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The Challengers Tania Tare

  • On screen text: Charles Schwab Presents

    Tania Tare: I’m obsessed with golf. Aren’t we all?

    On screen text: The Challengers
    A series about people who QUESTION. ENGAGE. SUCCEED
    Tania Tare

    Tania Tare: I am Tania Tare, and I’m a professional golfer and trick shot artist. I grew up here in Auckland, New Zealand. And I’ve been playing golf since I was about 15. Well, I had my first sport at 14, and then probably my first golf round was when I was 15. I played a lot of tournaments in New Zealand, then I went to college on a scholarship at FIU in Miami.

    On screen text: Titirangi Golf Club
    Auckland, New Zealand

    Tania Tare: And then post-college, tried to turn pro and do the pro thing. But I’ve had three wrist surgeries, and so I haven’t really had a full shot at it.

    Tania Tare: I would say after I had my third wrist surgery, I think that I was just hardened after that. And so I think that was the first time I realized I might need to start thinking outside the box. I knew that I wanted to be involved in golf and I wanted to make a career out of golf, but I didn’t know how to do that.

    Tania Tare: So the question I was asking myself was, “How do I stay in golf if I’m not competing?“

    On screen text: How do I stay in golf if I’m not competing?

    Tania Tare: So I kinda fell into trick shots a little bit. I just did trick shots personally for my friends and family because they thought golf was really lame, and I was trying to make it cool. But the first time I did a trick shot that I just made up on my own, just bounced a couple of ping pong balls between my legs and hit them into Solo cups. And it was pretty basic looking back on it now, but no one had done that before. And so those videos, both just my friends and stuff, were going pretty well, and everyone was really excited about them.

    Tania Tare: And then fast-forward a year and a half, so I just took my profile off private and then within 24 hours, the golf pages were all posting them. “Hey, can we post your videos? These are awesome. Never seen this stuff before.“ And then they pretty much went viral. And that’s kinda of how it all started. And then everyone was like, “Hey, you’re the trick shot girl.“ And I was like, “Oh, yes I’m the trick shot girl.“ I think at this point today, I’ve done around 400 trick shots.

    On screen text: I’ve done around 400 trick shots.

    Tania Tare: Honestly, I really enjoyed just hitting it out the air purely. When I pull that off, I feel that’s still as satisfying today as it was when I first did it. But my favorite set of trick shots I’ve done are the flip cup ones, only because no one’s ever done something like that before and they get harder and harder.

    Tania Tare: For me, I think the perfect trick shot is something that looks visually easy enough that you try it, but hard enough that you can’t pull it off.

    Thomas Davies: My name’s Thomas Davies, and I’m Tania’s youngest brother. Before Tania started doing trick shots, I thought of golf as this mundane sport, but she really showed me that golf could actually be fun. And I’m pretty impressed at how much exposure she has gotten across the globe. All my friends, even know who Tania is, and every time she’s back, they try to get a game of golf with her. It’s crazy how the world sees Tania as pro trick shot artist now, but she’s also a professional golfer and she’s still my big sister.

    Tania Tare: I wanted a logo that encompassed everything about me. So the Black Sheep stands for two things. One, it reminds me of New Zealand. And two, I think everyone should strive to be their original authentic selves. I feel that’s the most valuable thing about a person. Just having wrist surgery after wrist surgery, I really thought maybe that golf wasn’t for me. But I think being a black sheep let me kind of choose the trick shot path and still know I was going in the right direction.

    Tania Tare: I think even though I haven’t really gotten a great shot at playing competitively, my life has actually turned out probably a lot better. I’ve got to places that I haven’t been able to go before. I’ve met so many amazing people who I’m now friends with, and been on the James Corden Show and Tosh.0. So I’ve gotten to do amazing things all purely because of trick shots. But when I find out that someone who didn’t play now plays because of the trick shots, that makes me feel I’m showing golf in a different way, and people are saying to themselves, “Oh, golf isn’t just this one-dimensional thing. There’s so many different ways you can jump into golf and enjoy it.“ I think that’s always most satisfying for me.

    On screen text: Tania’s trick shots have been viewed 100s of millions of times.

    Tania Tare: Yes! I got it!

    On screen text: She gets home to New Zealand as often as she can.

    On screen text: And if she can avoid further injury, she’s still hoping to compete again.

    Tania Tare: And I still want to keep playing competitively in golf. And I think honestly, will probably never stop playing.

    On screen text: ASK QUESTIONS. BE ENGAGED.
    [Charles Schwab logo] Own your tomorrow

    Tania Tare: And I still want to keep playing competitively in golf. And I think honestly, will probably never stop playing.

    Onscreen text: [Charles Schwab logo] [PGA Tour logo] The Official Investment Firm
    ©2023 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Member SIPC. (0323-2LPY)

    Onscreen text:
    THANKS TO:
    TITIRANGI GOLF CLUB
    DOUG WHITE
    THOMAS DAVIES
    PETER AITKEN
    JO DAWKINS
    SANDI YOUNG
    XCALIBUR FILM PRODUCTIONS

How do I stay in golf if I’m not competing?

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