TAMPA, Fla. – Like so many others in the game of golf, Nemo Tsai found his passion for the game of golf through his family, specifically his grandfather.
Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Tsai began playing tennis when he was young. When his grandfather would pick him up from tennis practice, he would take him over to the driving range. Tsai was seven when he began playing for fun with his grandfather.
Around the same time, the LPGA made a stop in Michigan for an event. Tsai and his family went out to the course and were able to meet some players, further inspiring him to pick up the game.
“Once I started competing, I thought ‘This is pretty fun, I want to start doing this,’” 12-year-old Tsai said.
Tsai soon shifted his focus from tennis to golf, beginning to compete in tournaments. He earned numerous top finishes in many local and national events, including a runner-up finish at the 2020 U.S. Kids World Championship.
Last year, Tsai made his way down south to compete in his first Florida Junior Tour event. He compiled six top-10 finishes in 2021, competing in the 9-12 division, including two wins.
His first win on the Florida Junior Tour came in record-breaking fashion at Ocala Golf Club. The Michigan native carded a final-round 65 to take home the victory, the lowest 18-hole score in FJT history in the Boys (11-12) division.
Tsai added another win in September at Palatka Golf Club, and has spent the beginning of the 2022 season competing up in the 13-15 division.
“There’s just a lot of talented players in Florida and I just really enjoy competing in FSGA tournaments,” Tsai said. “It’s just helped improve my game overall.”
Not only did Tsai discover his passion for golf through his family, he discovered another passion –cooking. His family owns a Japanese restaurant and grocery in Michigan, Godaiko. Tsai has been working there for as long as he can remember. He began working in the grocery and transitioned to helping in the restaurant when he was older.
“Cooking has allowed me to really connect with my dad,” Tsai said. “I travel for golf so much, that cooking is a way for me to relate and spend time with him.”
This passion led Tsai to a pretty unique opportunity – being a contestant on the Food Network’s Kid’s Baking Championship.
His family received a message one day from a casting member of the show to see if Tsai would be interested in auditioning. The FJT winner had only done a little baking in his family’s restaurant, but decided to give it a try.
“We tried it for fun,” Tsai said. “I kept getting audition after audition and we thought I had a shot, so I kept baking.”
Tsai was eventually cast and flew to Los Angeles in 2020 to compete against a dozen other kids in hopes of winning $25,000. Each episode they were given a baking challenge and a competitor was eliminated from the competition. He advanced to the eighth episode and ended the season in fifth place.
“It was a really fun experience being on the show,” Tsai said. “I’m just so lucky that I was able to go back for another episode. When I went back, my goal was definitely to win.”
He returned to the show in 2021 for a Halloween special. Tsai was joined by three other fan-favorite Kid’s Baking Championship competitors to participate, where Tsai came out on top with the victory.
Tsai was able to take some lessons from the course to help him in the kitchen too. Being able to adapt under pressure, like he does on the course, proved to be helpful on the show.
“On the course, you face so many challenges and it’s really important to overcome that while you’re doing it,” Tsai said.
While cooking and baking are great hobbies for him, Tsai hopes that he will have a future in golf, and he has some pretty good role models to help make that happen.
LPGA Tour professionals, Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn were competing at the event in Michigan that Tsai says inspired him to pursue the game. The sisters from Thailand came to the Tsai’s family restaurant to eat one day.
Tsai’s mom, who is also from Thailand, got to meet the sisters and the whole family soon became close to the Jutanugarn's. Ariya and Moriya were actually the ones that convinced Tsai’s parents that golf would be the better sport for him.
“It was pretty awesome to see Ariya win the U.S. Women’s Open and to know that I have a golf mentor that has done that,” Tsai said. “It’s inspiring to be able to learn from them and to see how they’re using it on the golf course.”
Similar to the Jutanugarn's, Tsai has passed his love of the game on to his little sister, Lilo. The seven-year-old is competing in events in Michigan and recently advanced to the 2022 Drive, Chip and Putt regional qualifier.
“She is just trying to beat me at this point,” Tsai said with a laugh.
When asked what the coolest thing was about competing on the Kid’s Baking Championship, the answer was getting to be on TV. Tsai said occasionally at the airport someone will recognize him from the show.
“Hopefully one day though, people will recognize me for golf,” Tsai said.
