NEW KENT — Josh Speight didn’t learn to play golf on a fancy course. His parents weren’t members of a country club. He didn’t have high-paying swing coaches. He didn’t travel the country playing in youth tournaments.
His beginnings were much more humble and modest: Gloucester Country Club, a nine-hole tract in the middle of the county.
“My mom used to drop me and a buddy off at 8 o’clock in the morning. We’d play golf all day long,” Speight said. “It was like eight bucks; play as long as you wanted.”
Speight compared the fairways to yard grass mowed down, with the greens cut in a circle.
“They did a nice job with what they had to work with,” said Speight, the director of instruction at The Club at Viniterra in New Kent. He recently qualified for pro golf’s second major of the year, the PGA Championship next week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
He credits his success to those humble beginnings, not despite them.
“If you could play well there, then you could play pretty much anywhere,” said Speight, who has been proving that for nearly 20 years.
Yes, the course was short, but that didn’t make it easy because of the conditions of the fairways, and the greens were tiny and not in great shape.
“It helped me deal with when I get a bad lie, it’s not that bad. It taught me how to be creative on shots,” he said. “I think that is attributed to how I grew up, teaching myself how to do it. You have to figure it out somehow. I think that was a good thing for me.”
Speight, who lives in Middlesex County with his wife and two young children, earned his spot in the PGA Championship by tying for eighth at the PGA Professional Championship from April 28-May 1 in Frisco, Texas. The top 20 in the field of 312 club pros advanced. It’s the second consecutive year, and third time overall, he will be playing in the PGA Championship.
He’s better equipped this time around, especially considering there was a seven-year gap from his first time in the PGA Championship (2016) to his second (2023).
“It’s nice that it’s back-to-back years,” he said. “It was almost like starting over, making it last year. But I think it’ll be a little bit easier for me this year having just played in it 12 months ago.”
Last year in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in western New York, he shot 75-82 and missed the cut. In 2016 at Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey, he had rounds of 77-71 and also missed the cut. He’s optimistic this year. His driving is the best part of his game, but he said putting will be the key at Valhalla.
“I had been putting poorly for the last few years. But this year, I’ve really worked hard on my putting,” he said.
The stats show that work is paying off.
At last year’s PGA Professional Championship, he had eight three-putts and averaged 32.5 putts per round, yet still tied for 11th. This year, he had one three-putt and averaged 29.25 putts per round for 72 holes.
“I’m excited to go to the PGA feeling like I’m putting well and driving well. And my short game last week was really, really good,” he said of his play in Texas.
His caddie, who has been on his bag since last year’s PGA Professional Championship, agrees.
“I think his game is good enough,” said Joe Serafini, who is retired from the Air Force, lives in Williamsburg and has known Speight for 20 years. “He’s got all the tools. He definitely has all the shots.”
Michael Block, one of the 20 PGA Professionals who qualified for last year’s PGA Championship, was one of the stories of the tournament by tying for 15th, the highest finish by a PGA Professional since 1986. Speight and Serafini said there’s no reason they can’t do that this year.
“That’s exactly what I texted him. ‘We could be this year’s Michael Block,’ ” Serafini said.
The week will be a little bittersweet, too. Speight’s father, Ray, died at age 86 the week after last year’s PGA Championship.
“It’ll be a good and weird thing all at once, dealing with that,” he said.
Speight was a standout for Gloucester High School, where he graduated in 2006. He was among the top golfers in the Peninsula District and reached the Group AAA tournament his junior and senior years, earning a tie for fifth in 2005. He was an All-American for Methodist University and led the Monarchs to the NCAA Division III title his senior year.
“It’s all so humbling being a kid from Gloucester that gets to do the things that I’ve gotten to do in my career,” he said.
He’s closing in on his third major appearance and has traveled the world because of golf.
“Golf has done a lot for me,” he said. “And it’s nice to know that I’m from such a small place that I have so much support. It’s greatly appreciated.”
