Interview by Walil Archer
July 10, 2020
At 7-years-old, a young J.P. Thornton had no idea how hanging out with his friends at the local golf course would change his life. At age 8, he held his first golf club while participating with an inner-city youth group. He took a liking to the sport and stuck with it. Today, the 35-year-old husband and father resides in Houston, TX, and plays professionally on the Advocates Pro Golf Association (APGA) Tour. Among this former Tennessee Southern University Golf Team Captain’s long list of accomplishments, J.P. recently won the APGA Tournament at Sugarloaf (June 22-23) in Duluth, Ga. Scoring -6. VIEW LEADERBOARD.
“The exposure is what helps to propel you into the golf industry,” says J.P. “It’s hard for (Black) kids to gain access to golf. It has to be more affordable and accessible…this will attract more kids to golf and inspire more of them to play golf.”
J.P. turned professional a few years following college. He had an ambition for being in the industry, either teaching or playing. He followed both paths, earning a certification from the PGA Management Program and landing his first industry job with GolfTec.
In observing the scores that professional golfers were carding during rounds (65, 66) J.P. knew he could compete. And he did, playing in his first professional event on the APGA Tour in 2011 at Chester Washington Golf Course in Los Angeles, Calif.
Being a professional golfer is a rigorous life, filled with hours of daily practice, workouts, and travel to play in tournaments, but J.P. is up for the task. “It takes a lot of preparation….My dad always gave me the philosophy that preparation is 90% of the daily routine. I spend 90% of my day preparing for the event….lots of practice, and I spend a lot of my time playing golf…you have to be able to take your game from the practice range to the golf course. I like to play 27 to 36 holes a day. That takes up roughly about 5-6 hours of my time. I also workout as well, I do a lot of core exercises…two times a day, once in the morning, once in the evening.”
“It felt wonderful and humbling, as well…it was a great feeling,” says J.P. “You set a goal for yourself and you hit that goal, you that mark…you know the work you put in, you see it paying off, so it just motivates you more to keep doing it.”
