Inspired by Tiger Woods’ infamous Nike commercial, Joshua Kelley, 28, posts videos of his innovative trick shots on his Instagram and Facebook accounts, and he’s even caught the attention of brands such as Keurig and Genesis that have sponsored him and send him to golf events throughout the country.
Joshua Kelley, a 28-year-old father and golfer posts his trick shots to Instagram and Facebook feeds, and has gained such a massive following for his innovative shots that Keurig and Genesis have sponsored him and even fly him out to golf events across the country, NJ.com reported.
What ends up being a 10-second clip looped on Instagram may have taken him an hour—and years of practice—to land. At the age of 12, Kelley’s dad took him out to the golf course to shoot on a Par 3, and he was hooked. It was also around that time one of the world’s top golfers demonstrated his skills during a 30-second clip, NJ.com reported.
“Tiger Woods’ Nike commercial came out where he is bouncing the ball around on his club, and I remember watching that in my living room and thinking that was the coolest thing in the world,” Kelley said. “I grabbed my wedge, went out into the front yard and started trying to bounce it, and it was a lot harder than it looks. It took me an hour to bounce it around three times.”
That was the springboard to Kelley’s trick shot career. He emulated the Tiger Woods commercial and continued to experiment with variations of different shots through high school. At the time, he thought his skills could land him a spot in a contest held by the Bryan Brothers, one of the early adopters of trick shots. With a trip to Boston and the chance to play with some PGA professionals at stake, Kelley submitted a video of himself using his golf club to do an array of tricks, NJ.com reported.
“I would have bet anything in the world that I was going to win,” he said. “I was already booking my flight and figuring out who I was going to bring with me because the contest winner could bring three friends. The results came out, and I lost. I was devastated.”
The setback motivated Kelley even more, spurring him in 2015 to create his Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts, all titled @Holein1trickshots, with the idea of making a name for himself in the trick shot game, NJ.com reported.
“I started making some videos that went viral, and people really started liking them,” Kelley said. “I thought that I should spend a little more time doing these trick shots and since then, I took it seriously. In the beginning, it was something for fun just playing around to keep me busy, but now it is a little more serious.”
His videos have appeared on The Golf Channel multiple times, and he has been part of ESPN SportsCenter’s Top-10 numerous times, NJ.com reported.
View Kelley’s unbelievable shots below.
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