Learn the Surprising Secret to Success from a Guest Who Reveals Why Being Your Own Best Friend is Key.

When discussing player determination in the realm of golf, the name Christian Heavens is most likely to be included. Christian keeps his nose to the grindstone and his eye on the ball in all aspects of his life as a pro golfer and CEO of Tour Line Golf. His tenure in the sport reflects a career-low round of 61, earned in a Florida pro golf tour event, and he’s accomplished 25 tournament victories, including the St. Louis Publix Open this past May.

Following a standout collegiate career, Christian made his mark professionally as a member of the PGA Tour Canada in 2012. The stealth player recorded his first two victories on the Florida Professional Golf Tour that same year and went on to compete on the Golf Channel’s Big Break, ABC’s Season 2 of Holey Moley, the Latin America Tour, and on Florida professional tours.

An alumnus of the First Tee of Greater St. Lous, Christian represented the organization at the 2006 First Tee Open at Pebble Beach and in 2010 competed in the U.S. Amateur at Chambers Bay. His outstanding academic and golfing skills earned him a First Tee Scholars scholarship to Georgetown College in Kentucky, where he captured the All-American Inaugural Gimmie Golf Professional Invitational in 2018.

A two-time, first-team All-Conference member of the Mid-South Conference, as a junior Christian won first place in the final individual standings at the MSC Championships. For his efforts, he was named MSC Golfer of the Year and went on to earn third-team NAIA All-America honors. In each of his final three seasons at Georgetown, he finished in the top 12 of the MSC Championships.

MAIN TAKEAWAYS:

• Christian Heavens isn’t your “traditional” golfer. He got into golf at a time when golf for a Black man was not the norm. His grandfather, Levester Heavens, a firefighter, taught him to play golf when he was a little kid. Christian shared his grandfather’s love for the game.
• Not compromising who you are despite the norm is important in maintaining your identity. Christian still loves hip-hop, and R&B and brings pieces of himself to the golf course. You can be you and still enjoy golf and feel welcome at a golf course or country club, he said. 
•  Alex tells a story about a joke he made during an interview, that the interviewer said they didn’t understand so they didn’t select him out of the top three candidates. Alex said he was just being himself and that should never change.
• Christian said the Black golf community is small and they talk. Code-switching is one obstacle they feel at a professional level. It can be exhausting as there’s sometimes pressure to adapt or code-switch in the golf world. Being himself is one of the things that drives them to make golf more accessible. 
• Alex said there’s a difference between code-switching and being various versions of yourself. Christian said he has an at-home, chill, country club side that makes him feel comfortable. 
• “You have to learn to go where you are celebrated not tolerated. Just being you, there will be people who rock with you and those who aren’t going to rock with you. Even if you put on a persona, it will still be people that like you and those that don’t. Be you and find and attract the people who genuinely like you. You can collaborate with your energies.”- Christian Heavens
• Confidence and building confidence, or faking it until you make it is key. Act as if you belong there and know where you’re going. It will get you through many doors. 
• Success breeds confidence.
• In golf, there are no coaches. On the golf course, the player can be their own worse enemy criticizing their techniques. But we have to speak to ourselves like we would someone else. You have to catch yourself and be aware of it to combat that. Be your own best friend. 
• Goal setting is important to beat imposter syndrome. Look at your progress and see success even if you aren’t at your goal. We will lose more than we win, but don’t let the losses beat you down in life. Let the wins, big and small, have more emotion attached and build yourself up. Let a loss teach you and appreciate it as a step towards your end goal. 
• Try. Shoot your Shot. Hit your Drive. Even if you don’t get 100%, don’t let it beat you down or make you quit. Let it get you to another level. Learn from it. You win or you Learn.