“It has endless potential”: KPMG improves Steph Curry’s Underrated golf, a junior development program that is on the rise

Steph Curry felt lowly and frequently as the smallest player on his elementary school basketball teams, and as a teenager who was not considered by the ACC programs. Curry claims that Curry didn’t pass the eye test and that his dreams seemed further away.

The challenges helped the four-time NBA champion to develop a strong work ethic.

The Golden State Warriors star said recently that he doesn’t take any thing for granted. “Every transition to the next level was very difficult. It required my full attention, perseverance, belief in myself and all that. Even with all the achievements that I have personally and with our team, that mindset is still with me. It’s something that I try to keep as much as possible.

Curry’s documentary “Underrated” was premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah. It focuses mainly on his college experience at Davidson. Curry founded the Underrated brand in 2019 to empower, inspire and celebrate the underdog. Curry, a golf enthusiast, launched Underrated Golf last spring to provide equal access for those who are not represented in the game.

Underrated Golf now has KPMG as its title sponsor. This will enhance the initiative by providing a mentoring and leadership program for juniors.

Mariah Stackhouse, a long-standing KPMG ambassador, is responsible for connecting Underrated to the U.S. tax, audit and advisory firm. She attended the inaugural Curry Cup San Francisco and saw a natural connection between their missions.

“I believe it has endless potential,” stated Stackhouse, a former All-American golfer at Stanford, who was the seventh black player to achieve LPGA status in 2017. Stackhouse will represent Underrated Golf in the 2023 season.

There is currently no black player in the LPGA who has full status.

Underrated Golf will host 60 juniors in four tournaments around the country. The season-ending Curry Cup will be awarded to the top 24 players from each tour. The Underrated Tour includes events at The Park West Palm, West Palm Beach (June 25-27), Firestone Country Club, Akron (Ohio), Paiute Golf Resort, July 18-20, Las Vegas, and Chambers Bay (Aug. 9-9, Seattle).

Juniors will have the opportunity to meet college golf coaches at each stop and executives in golf at each stop. Stackhouse will host a KPMG Leadership Day at season’s end.

Curry said, “Just being there where you can say “Hey, that is something I can see me being inspired by,” was all it took. “Just a little bit of interaction, or even a little bit more awareness, can make a big difference in a child’s self-perception and confidence.”

It might not seem like much, but it can make a big difference for children to see themselves as people of power and excitement and to know that they have support and a way to get there.

KPMG has always been committed to advancing women in golf. KPMG hosts an annual Leadership Summit at KPMG Women’s PGA. This summit aims to introduce women to the game and to invest in female leaders who want to make it big. The program is led by Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State of the United States.

Paul Knopp founded Accelerate 2025 almost three years ago, his first day in the U.S. KPMG’s Chair and CEO. Accelerate, a strategic initiative that aims to ensure that more people from underrepresented groups work for KPMG to advance in leadership positions.

KPMG’s managing directors and partners were 39% of underrepresented groups in 2020. It was 43% in 2022. It is hoped that it will reach 50 percent by 2025.

Curry is keen for golf to be more like Knopp.

Knopp stated, “We believe that the mentoring they’ll be in able to give them, and the work we will do with Mariah around affirmation, it really, I think is going to be an effective combination of the three forces – Stephen, Mariah and KPMG – that will try to increase accessibility to the game for young women and those of color, and anyone that’s not underrepresented.”