Miles Russell, the top-ranked U.S. junior golfer, is ahead of the game for giving back

Miles Russell has a golf game beyond his 15 years.

The Jacksonville Beach native also learned at an even earlier age how golf can be a platform for giving back.

Before Russell became the most famous golfer in America who didn't yet have a driver's license, he and two other junior players, Graden Lomax and Alexander Kaufman, launched with the help of their parents the Florida Sunshine Cup, an annual team match-play event that has raised nearly $400,000 in five years.

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The proceeds are split 50-50 between the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation and the American Junior Golf Association's Liberty National Ace Grant Program, which provides financial assistance to families of junior golfers for travel expenses to play in AJGA and other national junior events.

This year's Sunshine Cup will be Oct. 19-20 at The Park in West Palm Beach, the site of an exhibition in February between Rory McIlroy and Max Homa vs. Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang.

The participants in the Sunshine Cup and how the money is raised are directly tied. Junior golfers are asked to solicit donations from sources such as family, friends and members at their home golf courses. Donations of $1,000 or more are requested for entry to the tournament.

There were 12 players on each side for two days of match play in the first few years. Now, it's up to 16.

The AJGA assists the players in setting up personalized websites that make it possible for donors to designate an amount and send it off to the AJGA in a matter of a few clicks.

How did the Florida Sunshine Cup start?

Most golfers wait until they turn professional and begin making some money before launching charities and foundations.

Russell said he and his friends didn't see the need to wait.

"My goal is to keep doing this my whole life," said Russell, who earlier this spring became the youngest player in history to make the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event and the ninth-youngest to play in a PGA Tour event. "We're just trying to have some fun with a bunch of buddies and raise money for people at the same time."

Russell said the idea was originally hatched by Lomax's father Benton, whose family lives in Concord, N.C.

Joe Russell, Miles' father, remembers the day during the summer of 2019 when Benton Lomax approached him at a hotel swimming pool in Orlando after their sons played a round in a U.S. Kids junior golf tournament.

"Benton asked me if this was something Miles and I would want to help get started," Joe Russell said. "He had the same conversation with Alexander [Kaufman] and his father. Kids that young? Yeah, I was a little surprised. But we realized that Miles, Graden and Alexander could have more of an impact on other kids than adults could."

The idea took shape for a match-play tournament. The boys fanned out to their fellow competitors, who then solicited donations. With their father's help, a course was secured at the Streamsong Resort, and the first Sunshine Cup was played on Nov. 23-24, 2019.

It raised more than $47,000.

"We were blown away," said Joe Russell. "I never thought they could have done that in the first year."

Just wait.

Sunshine Cup proceeds shoot past $100K

Despite the pandemic in 2020, which restricted the number of junior golf tournaments during the summer, the second Sunshine Cup was played on Nov. 5-6 at Banyan Cay in West Palm Beach. It raised more than $63,000. The 2021 tournament hit the $65,000 mark and then in 2022, the charity total shot up to $111,000.

Last year's event raised around $110,000 to bring the to $396,000.

Russell said it's now become one of the highlights of the junior golf schedule for the competitors.

Unlike the rest of their golf schedule, there are no trophies or junior and amateur ranking points at stake. It's golf for the sheer enjoyment of it, with the bonus of helping the Nicklaus Foundation and fellow junior golfers whose families are hard-pressed to afford expenses for them to play high-level events.

"It's just a blast," Russell said. "You get to see your friends and play golf without any pressure. Then you get to help people in the process."

AJGA helps with administrative details

Beth Docktor is the director of foundations for the American Junior Golf Association, the nation's oldest and largest junior golf organization. She helps with facilitating the donations (which are made directly to the AJGA and then distributed to the charities) and works with Benton Lomax and Joe Russell on running the tournament on-site.

"Beth manages the whole thing," Miles Russell said. "She's been great."

There is a deep culture within the AJGA that stresses sportsmanship, civility and playing by the rules. Docktor said players are given guidance for raising money for charity through their own websites and social media channels and get a weekly lesson in how AJGA events raise money for charity through the "Junior-Ams" in which they play with sponsors and adults within the community at the tournament sites.

Still, she said what Russell and the other boys involved in the Sunshine Cup are doing is above and beyond.

"They're really amazing kids," she said. "They've figured out at an early age how they can use golf to give back."

Four other First Coast junior players have participated in the Florida Sunshine Cup, Joey Hage, Benny Ossi, Maxwell Morgan and Aubrey Fellows.

The top three donors each year also get a personal audience with Jack Nicklaus at his Palm Beach home — which is connecting junior golfers young enough to be his great-grandchildren with perhaps the greatest of all time.

"Jack is thankful for the help we've given his foundation and to meet with him and talk about golf and life is very cool," Russell said. "He's inspiring the next generation."

Sunshine Cup is a celebration of golf

Miles Russell became the youngest to win the Junior PGA and the Junior Players last year. He also was the youngest to be named the AJGA Player of the Year.

He's already played on the Junior Ryder Cup and counting a PGA Tour Monday qualifier in Puerto Rico last March, and has competed in three professional tournaments so far this year, with a fourth on tap in November at the Bermuda Butterfield Championship. Russell also will play in the U.S. Junior and the U.S. Amateur later this summer.

But with a heavyweight schedule like that, Joe Russell said his son looks forward to the Florida Sunshine Cup as much as any other event.

He said the weekend of the Sunshine Cup is more like a celebration than a tournament. There's a welcome banquet, a post-tournament party and gift bags — and no pressure.

The juniors not only get the chance to play golf for its own sake but the parents get to watch without fretting over every missed putt — and are developing stronger relationships with other parents.

"The parents get to walk the fairways [in most junior tournaments they have to keep their distance] and wind up hanging out and talking with each other," Joe Russell said. "The kids want to win but it's for the fun of getting to brag over each other. It's a fun weekend for everyone."

Getting a head start to adulthood

Joe Russell said his sons and the other players who have participated in the charity are also getting valuable lessons that will help them if they go on to have professional careers, in golf or other fields.

"It's never easy asking someone for money, but this process is teaching the kids how to ask and approach people, and then thanking them later for their support," Joe Russell said. "They're learning how to conduct business relationships. I haven't made a single phone call or asked anyone for a donation on Miles' behalf. It's been all him. I see a difference in Miles in how he's gone about it and it's pretty special to see this part of his growth."

Miles Russell writes personal thank-you letters to donors. He has many repeat customers.

"Once you establish a relationship with someone and they see the impact of their donation, it's easier to go back to them the next year," he said. "They also love the charities. Nicklaus Health helps sick kids. There's no reason they shouldn't get the best care possible just because their families might not be able to afford it. And the Ace Grant helps a lot of kids play more golf."

Dockter said that based on what Russell and the other juniors have done with the Florida Sunshine Cup, the next generation will not only play great golf but maintain a passion for the good the game can do.

"Golf is a game that's about giving back," she said. "They're kids but they already want to have an impact that goes beyond the course."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Miles Russell, the top-ranked U.S. junior golfer, is ahead of the game for giving back