BY AAGE STAFF
June 1, 2020
Robin is a Chicago, Illinois native, a mother, writer, author, entrepreneur, golf instructor, and one on the few African American women who have held membership with the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). A former contestant on TV’s first extreme miniature golf reality game show, Holey Moley, featuring Executive Producer, NBA Superstar Steph Curry, this owner of Robin Aiken’s Golf has hit the greens in a round with (and beat) NBA great Michael Jordan.
Her self-published book, “How I Found My ‘sweet Spot and How You Can Find Yours,” she shares her truth in achieving her magnificent obsession in becoming a member of the prestigious LPGA Teaching and Club Professional division. This Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. sister has appeared in JET Magazine, shared the links and participated in celebrity golf clinics/tournaments with NBA legends Magic Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, Dwayne Wade, and comedian Steve Harvey, to name a few. As President/CEO of her construction and construction management
firm, Synergy Development Ltd. (SDL), Robin has garnered contracts with the state of Illinois and the City of Chicago. A classically-trained violinist, she began playing professionally in The Gary Civic Symphony before graduating from high school and has performed with four symphony orchestras, including the Purdue University Symphony Orchestra-1st violin section and has toured with Shadow Vignettes, an internationally acclaimed jazz band. Her talents have won 15 first place awards for violin performance (solo and group performances) for the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA). Robin, age 50, refuses to pump the breaks on her success and has obtained a swath of awards for her teaching ability
including 2001 Hook a Kid on Golf “New Program of the Year Award” for teaching inner-city youth through her non-profit, Inner City Youth Development, Inc. In 2009, she was recognized as an Outstanding Leader of Golf (2009) at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida by the African American Golfers Digest and, is named among the publication’s “Top Golf Instructors”. This former Division I Head Women’s Golf Coach at Chicago
State University has been inducted into the African American Golfers Hall of Fame (2016) and in her books, “Guide To Better Golf” and “Love and Golf: The Front Nine,” she outlines her Chicagoland Golf Academy teaching philosophy which is rooted in having students understand and embrace golf’s strong fundamentals. Robin made her debut on Episode #6 of ABC’s Holey Moley, August 1, 2019 at 8PM-ET. The venue is a 10-hole, technicolor miniature golf course and familiar mini-golf obstacles come into play in outsize dimension — giant windmills, water hazards, wavy slides and such — the difference being that they’re meant to obstruct golfers as well as golf balls. After striking their putts, players are required to navigate the course themselves, a perilous journey that yields all manner of pitfalls.
Robin has been playing golf since she was 6 years old. Her mother, Rosie Ross, introduced her to the sport that has now provided her with an abundance of opportunities. “I’ve learned so many life lessons because of it,” shares the Purdue University alum on her website. This hilarious episode also reigns in a surprise with award-winning actor joins Rob Riggle and Joe Tessitore in the “Holey Moley” booth for play-calling during a round at the Arc De Trigolf.
“I had an amazing time with the cast and crew of the show and Steph Curry is a wonderful person to have worked with,” said Robin who we may be seeing more of on-screen…stay tuned!
“Holey Moley” episodes can also be viewed on ABC.com, the ABC app and Hulu. Robin began playing junior golf with a program called the Bob-O-Links at Jackson Park Golf Course in Chicago, Illinois, where she began winning tournaments and by the time she had graduated high school she had won over 25 titles for Junior Golf and was named MVP for her High School Golf Team.
At Purdue University she was a star on their Women’s Golf Team and followed that up by taking the Playing Ability Test (PAT) for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Teaching and Club (T&CP) Division in 2004. Thereafter, she was an infl uential member of the LPGA for 10 years.
“I am most proud to have taught over 2,000 underprivileged youth both domestically and internationally,” remarks Robin who credits the late Julius Richardson with helping her learn the sport of golf in a very practical way. Contestants featured in the episode included the following:
Robin Aikens – Chicago, IL
Joe DePrima – Cliffwood Beach, NJ
Drew Gannon – Toledo, OH
Striking Her Goals Head On
Matthew Gebhard – Long Beach, CA
Colin McCarthy – Lanesborough, MA
Jerica Noble – Hollister, CA
Nina Palomba – Jackson Hole, WY
Joni Parent – Bowling Green, KY
Jackson Patterson – Houston, TX
Allison Smith – Seminole, FL
Alexis Tourdot – Menifee, CA
