Faith, Family, Football and a Whole Lotta Golf
A conversation with Pro Football Hall of Famer and Cobblestone Golf Club member Sterling Sharpe
by Chad Flowers
AP Photo/Vernon Biever
While there are few correlations between football and golf, a player’s attitude and determination can go a long way toward success in both. For Cobblestone Golf Clubmember Sterling Sharpe — recently enshrined as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 — faith, family and prayer have contributed to his success not only in athletics but also in the game of life.
Growing up in rural South Georgia, Sharpe played football for the University of South Carolina before becoming the seventh overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. Six years later, injuries cut his five-time Pro Bowl NFL career as a wide receiver short— and just like that, he needed another sport to make his own. Enter the little round ball...
“I think golf, from what I have found, is a lot like life,” says Sharpe. “You get out of golf what you want. It’s a lot of ‘I’m by myself,’ a lot of integrity, a lot of when no one else is looking.”
When asked to compare his football experience to playing golf, Sharpe says, “With football, you are part of a team and you are allowing yourself to be molded and shaped to be a part of that team, but when you play golf it’s just you. Golf is like life — whatever you put into it and or bring to it, that’s what you are gonna get out.”
Brant Sanderlin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP
Although recent surgeries have kept Sharpefrom his usual routine of golfing almostdaily, he hopes to get back to more regularplay in 2026.
“I was playing 400 to 500 rounds of golf a year. I really do enjoy being out there and the difference between the first 18 to the second 18or the first nine to the second nine,” he says.
Somewhat unique to Cobblestone is the setup of three separate nine-hole courses: Garnet, Black and Gold. Although Sharpe enjoys all of the courses, his favorite is the Gold Nine, which he says requires strategy.
“When you are a tournament golfer, you figure out ways to play certain holes. With the Gold nine, you have to hit it high, you cannot hit it at every flag. You cannot play eagle golf on that side because it’s very short. You have to be strategic, you have to be honest, and that’s the biggest thing, you have to be honest with yourself, because you’re a double bogey waiting to happen,” says Sharpe. “I made six birdies on that side during one round, which is my best playing from the tips, but it is a good test of golf because of the elevation changes and challenges you go through.”
As for the challenge of the Gold Nine, it’s the only tract at Cobblestone where he has yet to make a hole-in-one on all of the par-3s. Since taking up golf at age 33 after retiring from football, Sharpe has celebrated 16 holes-in-one — though he says none stand out as his single most memorable round.
While he says he does not really see a correlation between football and golf, his commitment to learning and developing in both areas is evident when he talks about his experience with both. In his Hall of Fame induction speech in August 2025, he mentioned something he learned from legendary football coach Jon Gruden. In his enshrinement speech, he said, “Jon Grudentaught me, ‘don’t study defenses or defensive backs, study other receivers.’”
Sharpe brought this same lesson to golf.
“I didn’t start playing until I was 33, so I needed a way to accumulate information quickly. I figured the best thing I could do was to go and watch,” says Sharpe. “If I’m playing with a guy and I try to figure out what I would do in his situation and I watch what he does, I learn to play golf better and faster than probably most people getting lessons or most people just coming out working on their game by themselves.”
As for his golf, unless he is playing a charity event or a pro-am, it’s mostly at Cobblestone.
“I play Cobblestone all the time. I think I can get everything I need (here). I love the people here, the membership has been really wonderful to me,” he says. “It is really fun being here. I can come out at 9 a.m. and play with the seniors, I’m 60 now, I can come out here on Tuesdays and play with the ladies, they are a lot of fun to play with. I think I have played with about every specialty group out here from the seniors to the women to the juniors. Being here as long as I have, I’ve gotten a chance to see a lot of growth and development from the guys, girls and ladies that are members here, and that growth and development is a lot of fun.
Article originally published in the 2025 Fall/Winter Edition of McConnell Golf, The Magazine.