Blades Brown, a top amateur golfer and three-time defending golf individual state champion in Tennessee, has decided to not attend Brentwood Academy.
Brown, ranked as the No. 4 boys golfer in the class of 2026, will be taking online courses this year to better manage his golf schedule, his mom, Rhonda, confirmed. He would have been a junior at BA during the 2024-25 school year.
At the age of 16, Brown made his PGA Tour debut in May. With a Callaway sponsorship, he was on track to potentially win five consecutive Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association golf individual state championships. Last fall, he tied the state tournament two-day scoring record by shooting a 6-under-par 66 at Sevierville Golf Club, finishing at 14-under 130 for the tournament. This performance also contributed to BA winning the team state title.
He was honored as The Tennessean‘s boys athlete of the year at the Middle Tennessee High School Sports Awards in June.
Golfer Blades Brown in Brentwood, Tennessee. (Mark Zaleski/The Tennessean)
Brown’s golf career extends beyond TSSAA competitions, with participation in top national tournaments for amateurs. Recently, he won all his matches to help the U.S. National Junior team defeat Australia in a friendly competition at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He is set to compete in the U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, in August.
Brown is currently ranked No. 10 in the American Junior Golf Association rankings and No. 117 in the World Golf Amateur Rankings.
In 2023, Brown gained national attention by breaking Bobby Jones’ record as the youngest medalist ever in the U.S. Amateur. He tied for first in the stroke play portion of the event, matching the Colorado Golf Club course record with an 8-under 64. Although he was eliminated in the Round of 32 in the match play portion.
His performance earned him a sponsor exemption into the PGA Tour’s Myrtle Beach Classic at Dunes Golf and Beach Club in South Carolina. Brown finished the tournament at 10-under-par 274, tying for 26th after shooting rounds of 72, 67, 66, and 69.
He is currently represented by Sportfive sports marketing agency and has NIL deals with Callaway and Transcend Capital Advisors based in New Jersey.
