Golf Science – Tiger’s Greatest Legacy
Tiger Woods, over his 49 years, has been many things to many people. A son any parent would be proud of. A dad his two children adore. A charismatic golfer who millions of golfers revere above any other. He has also been an icon, a GOAT (greatest of all time), a hero who has been solely responsible for inspiring several generations of junior golfers around the world.
It’s a different story at the TGR Learning Labs in Anaheim, California, however. Here, many of the fifth to 12th graders who avail of the variety of learning opportunities available, often “Don’t fully understand who Tiger Woods is, although they see his name etched on the side of the building” (fastcompany.com).
This amazing institution is run by the TGR Foundation that was set up by Tiger and his father, Earl Woods, in 1996. The TGR Foundation was established to expand the Woods’ family legacy of sharing and caring. It started with golf and later expanded to focus on education after 9/11, when Tiger said to his dad, “It doesn’t feel right, after what just happened, to have golf be a priority,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ0LPuweBgA ). Tiger’s vision for the Learning Lab was to create safe, inspiring spaces for kids to “learn, grow and chase after their dreams.”
As TGR Foundation and its Learning Labs is the main beneficiary of the annual Genesis Invitational, a signature event of the PGA TOUR, it seemed appropriate to make a deep dive into everything about this unique institution, soon after the event took place. To learn more about what has been offered to the over 200,000 mostly underserved children who have enrolled in its many programs over the past 19 years of its existence.
The President of TGR Learning Labs and National Programs is Hrag Hamalian, an experienced educator whose life’s work has been to facilitate the growth and education of underserved children. He founded his first school at age 23, specifically to improve the opportunities for under-resourced kids, which is why the TGR Foundation’s work of moving students from passion to education to career really spoke to him. “My goal is to show how TGR Foundation has such a phenomenal impact on lots of kids,” he avers.
While The Genesis Invitational raises funds for TGR Foundation activities, the core of it, for Hamalian, is that it provides exposure for their students during the event – whether it be in public speaking or as tee starters, or for media interviews, behind-the-scenes tours, or job shadowing with professionals. Moreover, it “Exposes the world to our work,” thus helping grow the TGR Foundation community and harness funding through local communities, corporate partners, foundations and individual philanthropists.
What does the flagship TGR Learning Lab in Anaheim have to offer? STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) education, health and well-being, and career and college readiness. Some of the courses offered (which grow and expand all the time, often based on students’ suggestions) include drone technology, multimedia production, computer science, forensic science, chemistry, podcasting, anatomy and epidemiology, biodiversity and entomology, biotechnology, website and app coding!
The STEAM courses are offered as after school programs, School Day programs, Saturday workshops, field trips and summer programs. So that every child interested can participate according to their own schedule and interest level. There are also career explorer/college access programs. While the School Day programs and field trips begin in fifth grade and have a career-connected learning component, the career explorer and college access programs are open to middle and high school students.
Moreover, adds Hamalian, the “Earl Woods scholar Program – which is a very high-touch program – includes mentorship, financial support and long-term support over the course of four years for students to get through college.”
It does not end there. The Learning Lab also provides educator professional development, including the prestigious STEM Studio. Where else on this planet can students – and their teachers – be exposed to all that … at absolutely no cost.
Every year, 8,000 to 9,000 school-aged kids participate in Learning Lab activities, and now, the Learning Labs is expanding nationally – to West Philadelphia in April 2025 and Los Angeles in 2026. Each program in the new locations will blend education, career-preparation and a sport – golf in Philadelphia and tennis in Los Angeles. Which is why Hrag Hamalian is excited about his job, entailing building new centers in new cities, bringing the staff there, authentically engaging the community, and adapting the existing programming model to serve the kids in the new locations.
Naturally, as TGR Foundation was founded by GOAT golfer Tiger Woods, every student who goes through the TGR Learning Lab Anaheim, through the field trips, usually gets a golf club in their hand and gets to participate in some form of golf activity. For students who want to take that a step further, the Learning Lab offers Saturday workshops and clinics and after-school classes. They actually also have an after-school class called the “science of golf.”
The TGR Learning Lab, thus, is in excellent hands, with people such as Hamalian and Gyla Bell, the Senior Executive Director of the Anaheim Learning Lab, and many other highly qualified and enthusiastic individuals continually promoting the growth and development of this unique learning facility. In fact, the word “teacher” or “instructor” has been replaced here with “learning facilitator” – a sure indication of the kind of impact these dedicated people hope to have.
What does Tiger Woods himself feel about how his entire plan has unfolded and how it continues to grow? He was asked, two years ago, by Damon Hack of the Golf Channel, “When you think of the impact it will have going forward for students, what are you most excited about?” Tiger explained how amazing it was to see students return after joining the workforce or going to college, eager to share and, in turn, having new students intern for them. “That’s what’s crazy, and that’s the cycle that I want to see,” he said.
Which is why, despite everything that he has achieved and will continue to achieve, TGR Foundation and its Learning Labs will live on as perhaps Tiger’s greatest legacy.