KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two former Brazilian volleyball players came to the United States expecting new experiences, differences in culture, and a chance to build something new away from home. What they didn’t expect was to find passion for a sport they had never played, watched or even knew it existed: golf.
Growing up in Brazil, their days revolved around volleyball and the competitive energy that came with it. Golf wasn’t on their mind. They had never touched a club, walked onto a course or imagined themselves spending hours trying to perfect their swing. But somewhere in the process of getting used to the Midwest, they came across something that would end up defining their daily routines here.
Their introduction to the sport wasn’t planned by anyone around them. One day, with no intention other than trying something new, they ended up at a driving range. They picked up a club, copied swings they’d seen and laughed through the early stages. But even in the awkward first moments, the sport sparked something neither had expected.
“First, not for me,” Felipe Chagas said. “Second, was like a rich people sport, which when you got here and you are an international student, that’s not your priority. So, I believe that once I saw people playing golf, I admire, but that was a sport that was never coming.”
What began as curiosity quickly turned into something more. Both players kept going back, again and again. Within weeks, the trips became a part of their weekly routine. They studied techniques, tried out different clubs and started to understand the technical discipline behind the game.
Somewhere in that process, the hobby became a passion.
“It was after I stopped playing volleyball after a few years,” Felipe said. “So was what, three years after I stopped playing volleyball, that I actually started playing golf. It was something that I was seeking throughout, like retirement from volleyball. It was something that I could be competitive with my friends… A good environment should be competitive, still a good environment to be hanging out with friends.”
As volleyball players, they were used to loud gyms, intensity, fast movements. Golf may seem slower from the outside, but once they tried it, they realized how mentally demanding it could be. The sport challenged their focus, patience and precision in ways that truly surprised them.
Their athletic background shaped the way they learned. The discipline, competitive drive and muscle awareness they had through volleyball helped them pick up some aspects faster, while other parts, like mentality, took longer to master.
“Playing volleyball and playing different sports around my life, it was not something that I would not take the challenge” Felipe said. “It was just something that I never thought about.”
Now, both men say they’re drawn to golf for reasons that go beyond the game itself. The strategic challenge and the personal accountability all play a role. For athletes who grew up in team settings, golf gives them a different type of satisfaction, one that comes from quiet dedication and personal growth.
“It blows my mind every time, because I was like playing volleyball for 14 years, and golf was a sport that not even remotely close I would be thinking of myself playing now,” Felipe said. “Kind of going through the hustle to learn the sport, learning how to swing, learning how to play and have course management. Those things I never thought that I would ever be thinking about.”
Over time, the two gathered plenty of moments they still talk about, missed swings, unexpected breakthroughs, plenty of frustration and milestones that made the practicing worth it.
“The moment I would mark the most is the hole-in-one that I got last year, and it was something special, it was something where I was like it might be able to do this, I might be able to play the sport,” Felipe said.
One of the players’ wives, Christina Chagas, watched the transformation unfold. At first, she assumed golf was just a one-time thing, a random experiment the two friends wanted to try. She didn’t expect it to stick, and certainly not to become part of her husband’s personality.
“Seriously, yeah. Like seriously, was kind of my first impression. Also, a little concerned about how much you would get soaked up in it, and how much like time and like, what level of investment, I guess,” Christina said. “Golf was becoming kind of new and exposed to me at that same time as well. So, I was seeing more about wives and husbands and the horror stories. First reaction was like, wait, what?”
But she noticed the shift quickly. The gear started appearing. The after-work practice sessions became normal. The casual curiosity turned into something consistent, serious and genuinely important to him.
“I would say, pride. It’s pretty noticeable when Felipe has like, interest or an itch for something. So, I think I just started to notice that, and just the repetition of it, how often he was looking for ways to do it, and then going to tee times and stuff like that,” Christina said.
The newfound obsession even changed daily routines. Weekend plans adjusted. Conversations at home shifted. Golf became something that connected her husband to a community, a challenge and a sense of identity he missed after leaving volleyball behind.
“I can’t really think of any negative impact it has had actually, but that just speaks more to Felipe, his character, like how he prioritizes his time and his family time. Are there weekends that I have a morning to my own? Yeah, but it’s not so bad. He makes up for it in other ways,” Christina said. “You know, this is your hobby, you’re interested, tell me more about that, so we have kind of new and unlimited topics to talk about.”
To her, the sport seems to offer him both comfort and challenge, familiarity through athletic discipline and excitement through something completely new.
“It is challenging, and it’s challenging new parts of his body too, and I think that’s of interest to him,” Christina said. “Entirely self-inflicted, self-driven, which does make it a little bit more special.”
Learning the sport alongside a close friend made the journey even stronger. Marcus Lucchesi, who picked up the sport at the same time, said the shared experience made the process more motivating, competitive and fun.
“It was the fact that I could go somewhere and hang out with my friends, drive around in a golf cart and be competitive,” Lucchesi said. “We tried to be competitive at first because we were not good at all, and just trying to play around the course as fast as we could, while losing the least amount of balls as possible.”
Practicing and learning together gave them a sense of familiarity in a new place. They relied on each other, turned each practice into a friendly challenge, and set personal goals. Whether they were laughing at a mistake or congratulating the other, learning as a pair made the sport have more meaning.
“Starting golf with Felipe was very helpful when it came to sticking with it because I feel like if I had started it on my own, I wouldn’t have the competitive aspect of it enough for me to actually find the sport interesting,” Lucchesi said. “Starting with him was really good for me because we always, since the beginning, had that competitiveness. We’re always going against each other, always learning, we were always around the same skill level, so that was very helpful as well.”
Coming from volleyball, Lucchesi said the transition wasn’t straightforward. Some aspects felt similar, like the focus and discipline. Other aspects felt completely new, and golf rewarded their calm behavior rather than the quickness with volleyball.
“Every small feeling, I had in volleyball and trying to be as precise as possible since with volleyball I was a setter where my position had to be precise every single time I touched the ball so I feel like golf does the same thing to you,” Lucchesi said. “I don’t think it’s similar at all with the physical demand and for right now golf doesn’t have a lot of physical demand for me it is more mental.”
Now, he says the sport keeps him intrigued for reasons that go past just simple friendly competition. It challenged him mentally, gives him room to grow and lets him enjoy peaceful moments outside, something he didn’t realize he would love in the United States as well.
“The sport itself keeps me pretty invested, I feel like trying to improve, trying to see some improvement, trying to see changes on my swing, changes on the game that I am playing and having better scorecards,” Lucchesi said. “I always feel like watching golf on TV, watching tournaments and of course watching golf on YouTube, so that really keeps me invested in the sport.”
Like Felipe, they both share the same exciting memory of golfing with each other, and Lucchesi believes that there will be more to come as they continue their experience of golf together.
“I don’t have a lot of incredible memories just yet because it’s like I’m in the beginning of golf. I am at the beginning of learning, I am getting interested in the game. It’s been about a year or year and a half, and nothing memorable has happened just yet for me,” Lucchesi said. “I was able to be there for Felipe, where he got his whole in one before even playing for a full year, so that was pretty memorable for me even.”
What started as a quick try at golf has become something bigger for them, not just a simple hobby, but a way to connect with each other, with parts of themselves they didn’t expect to rediscover after leaving volleyball behind.
As their love for the sport continues to grow, so do the stories they have created on the fairways and driving ranges of Kansas City, stories they never imagined would become part of their lives when they stepped onto a course for the first time.
