The Gator approaches the host of its second charity event, the Impact Cup. An event to raise awareness of youth mental health.
The two-day Ryder-Cup-style tournament begins July 25 and is a unique college golf event that gives competitive golfers the opportunity to showcase their golf talents and develop important life skills such as community outreach, leadership, and teamwork. Participants will gain a greater understanding and awareness of charitable giving while being celebrated for their accomplishments.
Roberts is joined by best friend and Duke golfer Phoebe Brinker, who is co-hosting the event with the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) to help benefit the Generation Next Project and the AJGA ACE Grants Program.
However, this is not the first time the two have returned.
In 2020 they came up with the creation of the Senior Cup. The event featured high school golfers whose senior seasons were cut short due to COVID-19. They raised over $40,000 for the Golf Emergency Relief Fund, the AGJA Competitive Excellence Achievement Grant and frontline workers.
Immediately after, they knew they wanted to organize another charity event. But when the two enrolled in college for their freshman year and were still dealing with the pandemic, the logistics were too complicated.
After Taylor’s freshman year and going through her own mental health experiences, she went to Phoebe and had another idea for a charity tournament. This time for the benefit of mental health initiatives.
Phoebe loved the idea. And soon the two were back to work.
And that they did.
Fast-forward to now: They’ve raised over $88,000, Bobby Jones Golf Club and East Lake Golf Club are sponsored, two therapists are in attendance, 22 golfers have committed to play, and much more.
“It’s crazy to see how it all came together,” Roberts said. “It’s amazing to see how many people support it and the more you talk about mental health and share my own story, the more people want to support it. It’s something that’s really prevalent in our lives.”
The idea originally came up when I was in therapy. An important decision suggested by her parents, which helped put Taylor in a better position than she is today.
“After therapy, I wanted to help other athletes or just anyone in general to get resources because I realized how lucky I was to have the opportunity to get better.”
Getting over it all and looking back now has been impressive for the Parkland, Florida native.
“My parents were telling me a year ago that I wasn’t playing tournament golf because I didn’t love the game and was just struggling to find happiness and the fact that I’m competing right now and at a high level is surreal. But also the fact that I’m helping other people makes it so much better.
Throughout the planning of the event, Taylor balanced transferring to a new school. A seamless transition thanks to the UF culture.
“There are so many people in the athletic circle that have supported me and made the process easy. That’s why I went to Florida.”
“Coach [Emily] Glaser not only cares about you as a golfer but as a person. I can’t wait to get back to campus because he feels like he has another family there. Culture doesn’t match up and when people say it’s cool to be a Florida Gator, it really is.”
As the event draws closer, Taylor and Phoebe wanted to make sure this doesn’t happen just once. Rather, create an annual opportunity to benefit from various initiatives in the future.
While the goal of the event is to raise $100,000, it’s not just about the money.
“Our main mission is that when everyone leaves, they have resources to go back to their lives and understand themselves on a different level.”
More information about the event can be found. here.
