Like father, like son — golf runs deep for the Byrd family

GRANITEVILLE, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - For some families, the love for the game of golf runs deep.

Here’s the story of a young golfer competing in the 12th annual Sage Valley Junior Invitational.

By having a front-row seat to watch his dad Jonathan Byrd play on the PGA Tour, Jackson Byrd not only discovered his love for golf but learned how to become one of the most talented amateur golfers in the world.

“It’s really cool because I mean obviously, I mean he’s my biggest role model, in terms of like the person that he is and how great of a golfer he is. My whole family is really supportive, and it’s really fun that I’m doing well and just trying to make him proud,” said Jackson.

The Byrd family is spread out this week. While Jackson is at Sage Valley, his father is down in Flordia competing in the Valspar Championship.

Amanda Byrd said, “wanting to be in two places. My parents actually went to watch Jonathan play this week. Just trying to spread the encouragement and support.”

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Jackson said, “usually, when we’re playing tournaments at the same time, I’ll check my phone to see how he’s playing, and he’s told me he does that for me too, so it’s kind of cool that we go back and forth.”

Amanda said, “Jonathan will tell me things Jackson needs to be doing, and Jackson’s telling me things Jonathan needs to be doing. They’re usually the same thing. I’m like, if you two would just talk about these things, you’re both not doing the same thing.”

By following in his father’s footsteps, Jackson is learning how to deal with the highs of sitting atop the leaderboard and the lows of missing the cut.

Amanda said, “how resilient he’s been over the years just with injuries and different things, and that’s set such a great example for Jackson, and I can only hope he has a career like Jonathan.”

Jackson said, “golf’s kind of a hard game. There are a lot of ups and downs. So you kind of need a good support system, and luckily I have a really good one with my family, and I love them. So it’s good to have.”