Jarell English might not be a familiar name to our readers. It might not be a familiar name to the content creator community either. But if I mention Rory BlakIroy, almost 50,000 followers on Instagram as well as other local and national golf influencers know exactly who I am talking about.

After high school in Keller, English found his way to Texas Lutheran to play collegiate basketball. As his basketball career began to run short, he took up golf with some teammates and began hitting balls regularly with his wife. A love for the game grew, and admittedly, English says golf is a way to stay competitive without the risk of major injury post-college recreational basketball might bring.

Fast forward a few years, and English, while getting a basketball coaching career off the ground, found himself among the rapidly expanding golf content creator universe. Names like Paige Spiranac, Grant Horvat, Rick Shiels and the entire lineup of Bob Does Sports personalities were becoming increasingly prominent in the space. English jumped in with both feet on Instagram and other platforms, posting comical golf content for the world to follow along.

How did a former college basketball player dip his toes into the world of golf influencing? How did he get the name Rory BlakIroy? Well, it began with a passion for music, humor and the game itself.

Back in 2018, English submitted a golf-related music video to an online contest. The contest, hosted by Play Golf Myrtle Beach, was promoted by the aforementioned Paige Spiranac, and the winning submission took home $10,000 and a free trip to Myrtle Beach, one of the most popular golf destinations in the United States.

English submitted a video (which can still be found on the Play Golf Myrtle Beach YouTube channel), which was eventually chosen as the winner. Not too long after his adventure to Myrtle Beach, some jestful on-course banter with friends led to the creation of the Rory BlakIroy moniker, a name he began using for content that eventually led him down a path of social media recognition not only here in DFW, but around the United States.

Now, as the dust has settled and English no longer embraces the full-time grind of social media content creation, he sat down with AVIDGOLFER to talk about his wild ride on Instagram, his race to 10,000 followers, meeting the other Rory, and the ebbs and flows of being a golf influencer.

When you first started got into content creation, was it purely by accident, or is it something that you had considered?

It was really by accident. I made a video to try to go viral. It was actually crazy the way it happened. I made a music video and edited it. Just a couple minutes after I uploaded it, I saw an ad for an online content contest for a chance to win $10,000 and a trip to Myrtle Beach. The contest was making a video about why you love golf. I submitted the same video and ended up winning the contest. That really helped launch my channels. 

Did you come up with the Rory Blaklroy name or was it a nickname someone gave you? How did that happen?

I came up with it. When I first got into golf years ago, it was during that era when Tiger was going through some personal stuff and Rory had really burst onto the golf scene.  I had always heard about Tiger but wasn’t really into the game when he was really in his prime. One day a friend of mine and I were playing. I hit a good shot, and he said something like “Ok, Tiger Woods … good shot.” I barked back at him and said, “nah, man, that’s Rory BlakIroy.” We both just cracked up laughing. After that I went and had it put on my bag. From there, that was my new nickname in my videos.  

You have been doing content for a few years. How long have you been playing?

I was a collegiate athlete. I played basketball at Texas Lutheran University down near San Antonio. As I got to the end of my career, I realized that I wasn’t good enough to go play pro ball. I had two guys on my team that played golf. When everybody would go play ball, they would leave and go golf. I swiped an old set my dad had over spring break, brought the clubs back to school and just started trying to play a bit. In a coincidence, like they opened up a driving range across from our apartments in college. It was rarely crowded, so when my wife and I would go hit balls, they would give us some free pointers. 

Do you remember your first actual round?

Yeah. Right before we went home for summer, we went and played nine holes from the red tees. I made a bogey on my first hole ever. I was gassed up. I probably tripled every single hole after that, but that’s what got me into it. My senior year, had I not picked up golf, would have been so much better on the court. Basketball wise, I was checked out. So, that’s how it all kind of started.

Being a former collegiate athlete, do you feel like now that you’re getting a little bit older golf gives you a good vehicle for competitive outlet?

Oh yeah, for sure. People ask me all the time if I still hoop, and my answer is I’m not trying to go to the ER. I am married with kids and the last thing I need to do it tear up a knee or rupture an Achilles. And at this point if I got hurt playing basketball and couldn’t play golf for a while, I would be pissed at myself. The great thing about golf is you can play with a group or do it by yourself, and there is still competition. You can be playing the other guys in your group, or you can be playing the course and yourself. That’s what makes it such a great competitive outlet. You can also play it late into life. You see guys all the time in their 70s trying to shoot their age. That’s something else that really drew me to golf.

There seem to be more and more high-level athletes playing golf now. You didn’t see that as much when we were growing up.

The kids that I know, high school-age kids that I know … a lot of them play golf as well as other sports. Could be the starting quarterback on the football team, but they golf on the weekends. That was rarely the case when we were younger. I knew one person when I was in high school that played a lot of golf. Now you are seeing guys like LeBron James starting a YouTube channel for golf. He’s kind of in the same situation I was. Loved basketball, but now he’s nearing the end of his career and needs to dedicate his time to something. Golf is a great choice. Now, he has a future playing golf. More and more guys are playing too. Steph Curry, Trae Young. I even met Andre Iguodala through playing golf. Never would’ve thought golf would lead me to meeting an NBA champion.

You mentioned that contest you won that kind of launched you into content creation. Have there been some other highlights or some of the other videos that you felt like really helped you gain some traction in the influencer space?

When you join Instagram and want to become a creator, it’s basically a race for 10,000 followers. That is the benchmark for monetization. One of the first big videos I posted was over at Riverside. You remember when Kevin Na used to walk in putts from 10 feet? I did something similar on a shot from the fairway. The ball lands on the green and it’s rolling toward the hole. I am running through the fairway full speed, catch up to the ball right as it goes in and pluck it out of the hole like Na does on those putts. I tagged Kevin in the post, and he reposted it. I gained a couple thousand followers just from that one video.

When did you realize that this was something you may be able to do full time?

A week before THE PLAYERS, a woman who had started following me messaged me and told me her husband is a big-time golf instructor down in Florida. We began to message back and forth, and it turns out she is also an executive for the PGA Tour. My wife reached out to her and mentioned we were coming down to play that week. She ended up getting us on at Sawgrass. We didn’t get to play the Stadium Course because of tournament preparation, but we played another one there. A couple days later, she calls and asks if we could stay an extra day because she was trying to get me an introduction with Rory [McIlroy]. I immediately changed our travel plans so we could stay. Tiger was supposed to be there too, but he had gotten hurt and was taking some time off. Tommy Fleetwood stepped in for Tiger. There I was in THE PLAYERS Championship fan shop with Rory, Fleetwood, Rory’s agent, a couple Nike reps and some other Tour reps. Rory came walking down this hallway, and we were introduced. When they told him my name was Rory BlakIroy, he fell out laughing. Like, threw his head back with laughter. We got a quick picture, and I was able to talk to him for a couple minutes. But that was one of the cooler experiences I have been a part of.

There are so many people trying to get into the content creation space now. Every course you play, there are kids, or even adults, setting up cameras with tripods to capture tee shots, or whatever. What advice would you give someone trying their hand at becoming an influencer?

Some advice? I would say make sure you have more than one gig. Don’t go all-in on the content creation right away. Have something that can help you weather the storm if you aren’t getting any views. You aren’t likely to go viral from your first post … or your second … or your third. It takes a lot of time, effort and consistency. When I was really deep into content, I was posting all the time. I had professionals that came out and followed me around to shoot video and help edit. It’s not cheap. Don’t dive too far in all at once. Let it grow organically. For me, it was the music and the comedy content. I felt like those two things were easy for me and I enjoyed doing it. The golf was just a nice bonus. And be true to yourself. I never shot anything fake or anything obnoxious. You see these fools destroying a course or pouring milk all over the floor in a Walmart and going viral for it. That was never going to be me. Be respectful and be true to yourself.

You mentioned the music. What is on your current playlist?

When I make my own music, I listen to instrumentals and then I try to make songs related to golf. There is a YouTube playlist that just has instrumental stuff, and I will get inspiration there. Besides that, I listen to a little bit of rap, some Christian music and, honestly, almost everything in between. I like anything that sounds good to me.

What are some of the negatives you have experienced in the creator universe?

When I was at my highest following, I stopped doing everything else and went all in. I had a couple sponsorship partnerships that ended up not fulfilling the financial commitment we agreed on. Basically, they never paid me for the work I did. So just be aware that if you are going to take that leap and do this full time, there are some drawbacks. You can find yourself in a rough spot if this is all you’re doing. Have a backup plan and know that sometimes, these agreements you make might not turn out like you hoped.

You aren’t creating as much content now, although you still post a decent amount. What is your full-time gig now?

I am coaching hoops.

How do you feel like some of the lessons you’ve learned not only on the golf course, but through content creation, have helped you with coaching youth?

I think one of the things I tell the kids is that it’s a grind. It’s the same way building a following. You start off not knowing as much as you think you do, and you slowly build your knowledge, and as you grow, you grow as a player. You aren’t going to be the same player as a freshman as you are when you’re a senior. Same thing goes for building an online brand. It doesn’t happen all at once. Same thing from season to season. You aren’t going to be the same team in August that you are in October. You get better and better as the season goes on, and you hope that propels you to where you want to end up.

Now that you’re not a full-time creator, how have your rounds of golf changed?

It is hard to golf without a camera now. You know, I still have a following, and I still post, and I still enjoy it. Right now, I have so much on my plate that I can’t be consistent. But I have hundreds of video ideas and other content, and I won’t stop until it’s all finished. I will get to it eventually. I will still post, but there is no end goal for content like when I was doing it full-time. It’s just a way to kind of express myself and use my creativity for a positive. They don’t need to go viral. As long as they get some laughs and some comments, I am totally cool with that. Everybody’s not going to like it. Everybody’s not going to subscribe or follow, whatever the case, but if some golfers enjoy it, then that’s cool with me.

What is your dream course that you haven’t had a chance to play? Within reason, of course. Everyone is going to say Pine Valley or Augusta National.

Would love to play Banff up in Canada. I have a friend that I used to do content with, and he’s in Canada. And I know he’s been out there, and I met a couple other guys on IG that have been out there. That would be right at the top of the list. And Sawgrass Stadium. When I was there for PLAYERS week, I got to play one of the courses, but not the Stadium. It looked so pure. Like carpet. And I can only imagine what it would be like to hit that shot on the island green. I want to experience that once.

We’ll keep a lookout for more content.

You can still find me on Instagram @roryblakiroy