Young Compton sisters impressing with golf skills

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Sunday, July 2, 2017
Young Compton sisters impressing with golf skills
Roxy (left) and Layla Phillips from Compton are already drawing attention for their golf skills.

COMPTON, Calif. (KABC) -- The tiny frames of the Phillips sisters from Compton are packed with big-time golf talent.

At just 4 and 6 years old, the sisters are already impressing with their skills.

Last week Layla Phillips, 6, won a Southern California PGA drive, chip and putt competition, qualifying her for a junior world competition in San Diego. She'll be competing against kids from Japan, China, Mexico and other countries.

At age 4, Roxy says she likes putting, while Layla prefers hitting on the fairway.

One local golf expert says they remind him of two other sisters and accomplished athletes who also grew up in Compton.

"They are very, very good. I can only compare them to the sisters Williams in tennis," said Luis Batson, CEO of Help Youth Through Golf, a nonprofit that helps teach the game to youngsters in the Compton, Long Beach and Paramount areas.

The sisters learned to golf at two years old.

The family used to live next to Maggie Hathaway Golf Course in South Los Angeles. Their mother, Jasimen Phillips, wrote to the course to ask them to do something about all the golf balls landing in their back yard.

The course responded with an apology and an invitation for family golf lessons.

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