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Young Sisters Already Drawing Comparisons to Venus and Serena, But They’re Swinging Clubs Instead of Rackets

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: | Updated on June 28, 2018 CommentsComments (0)

Two young Black sisters are making waves with their impressive golfing skills and have been linked to a couple of Grand Slam-winning tennis siblings — Venus and Serena Williams.

Layla and Roxy Phillips are only 6 and 4, respectively, yet they’ve already made some impressive achievements.

“They are very, very good. I can only compare them to the sisters Williams in tennis,” Luis Batson, CEO of Help Youth Through Golf, said to ABC7 Sunday, July 7. Baston’s organization is a nonprofit that teaches youth in Compton, Paramount and Long Beach, Calif.

At the end of June, 6-year-old Layla won a Southern California PGA drive, chip and putt competition, which qualified her to play in the IMG Academy Junior World Championships July 10-14. She tells the news station she enjoys hitting down the fairways, while 4-year-old says she likes putting.

“They get to play against kids from all over the country and all over the world,” Jasimen Phillips, the girls’ mother, says of the San Diego competition. “So, there’ll be kids from Japan, China, Mexico, Canada and she’ll be playing side by side with them.

The sisters began playing at age 2 after being offered family lessons when Phillips wrote to Maggie Hathaway Golf Course about the balls that kept landing in their backyard when the lived in South Los Angeles.

“In our family, education is always the first priority,” Phillips says. “So, our first goal is full-ride scholarships to Stanford. Everything else after that is icing on the cake.”

Layla and Roxy’s talents have been applauded online, especially due to their connection to the Williams sisters.

https://twitter.com/notglo/status/881964584730595329

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