L-R: Bento Assis, Catherine Andino and Gabriel Holtz all excelled this season on NBA superstar Steph Curry’s Underrated Golf Tour. They each finished among the top dozen of the Curry Cup field, which featured the tour’s best players in boys and girls divisions based on the year’s results. Photos provided
By Faran Fagen
Gabriel Holtz held his first toy golf club at age 2 and didn’t want to let go. His passion persisted — and powered him to the pin.
This 18-year-old Boca Raton resident recently won the regional boys division of Steph Curry’s Underrated Golf Tour to qualify for the season-ending Curry Cup in New Jersey in September.
“I’ve been a member of Steph Curry’s Underrated Golf Tour since day one,” said Holtz, who attends Florida Virtual School. “I remember seeing it on Instagram and thinking that I really wanted to be a part of it. The very next morning Will Lowery,” the tour ambassador, “sent me a DM on Instagram with the invite.”
Two other Boca Raton junior golfers, Catherine Andino and Bento Assis, also qualified for the Curry Cup after finishing among the top 24 players overall on this season’s tour.
Holtz finished 10th and Assis 12th in the boys division and Andino tied for fourth among girls in the Curry Cup.
“I first heard about the Underrated Golf Tour through a friend who told me they were looking for young golfers to join,” said Andino, a 16-year-old junior at West Boca High School. “I loved the idea of being part of a tour created by Steph Curry that gives kids the opportunity to play at incredible golf courses across the United States, while also meeting other junior golfers from different places.”
Underrated Golf aims to provide access and opportunity for student athletes from every community, such as by helping them receive college golf scholarships.
The brand, established by Stephen Curry in 2019, draws on the revered NBA champion’s personal story as an underappreciated three-sport athlete.
Underrated partner KPMG, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, contributes to student development with its KPMG Leadership Development Day.
For Holtz, the most memorable part of the tour has been meeting Curry.
“I’m a huge sports guy and Steph is one of my idols in sports, and when I saw him and talked to him for the first time, it was unreal,” he said. “But I will definitely put my two wins up there.”
His regional victory came after he started the day three over par after a tough 75. Holtz then fired a 66 on the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass to take the lead — and the trophy. This was his first Underrated Golf victory since 2022, when he won at Wickenburg Ranch in Arizona. A Clemson commit, Holtz will kick off his Division I golf career next fall.
“In college, I want to win, learn and enjoy what everyone says will be the best years of my life,” Holtz said. “I can’t wait to get to Clemson and be a part of the Tiger family. I see college as a step closer to the PGA Tour, tough courses, competition and an intense daily routine. But I can’t wait.”
For Assis, a home-schooled freshman, his most memorable moment on the tour came when he shot four under par in one of the rounds when he qualified for the Curry Cup.
“I’m so grateful to be part of Stephen Curry’s Underrated Golf Tour for all the opportunities they give us and all those good courses we can play,” Assis said. “We also make really good connections with people you didn’t know.”
Andino began playing golf at age 7. Her best friend got her into the sport at summer camp.
“What I love most about golf is the competition, the challenge, and the discipline it teaches you,” Andino said. “Golf is a sport where you’re always learning and being tested, which keeps it exciting.”
Her goals for the rest of 2025 are to keep learning and growing competitively. She recently committed to play golf at the University of Miami and hopes to pursue a professional golf career.
As for Holtz, whose dad is a PGA professional, coach and club maker, he hopes to maintain the passion for the game that his family instilled in him at a young age.
“What I love most about golf are the challenges, the grind, the difficulties and the struggles,” Holtz said. “It helps me to grow not only as a golfer, but as a person. I also love the pressure — the butterflies. I love waking up every day with the motivation to do my best because I see every day that goes by as a step closer to the PGA Tour.”
For more information on Underrated Golf, visit stayunderrated.com.
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