Ken Griffey Jr. Says He Doesn’t Play High Stakes Golf But His Putter Cover Suggests Otherwise

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The connection between professional baseball players and the game of golf has always been strong. They already have the solid mechanics of a swing down pat and the best hand-eye coordination on the planet. Even still, much of the golf and baseball world was surprised to see Ken Griffey Jr. emerge at the 2025 Masters.

While he was working at Augusta as a professional photographer, Ken Griffey Jr. was revealed to be very much immersed in the golf world these days and he made an appearance on the Skratch podcast this week to talk golf. As it turns out, ‘The Kid’ is a member at The Grove XXIII in Hobe Sound, Florida, Michael Jordan’s private course which was recently ranked here as one of the most exclusive golf clubs in the country.

Griffey also revealed himself to play a ton of golf but not for high stakes. Junior said “I don’t play really big money games. I think taking money from my friends is bad. I don’t want to be responsible for taking someone’s grandchild’s inheritance money.”

He then gets called out for his ice cold putter cover!

ESPN’s Michael Collins chimes in to say that Ken Griffey Jr. carries a putter cover in his bag that has headstones on it which display the initials of everyone in their regular golf group, everyone who gets dominated by Junior on the golf course. Here’s that moment:

Griffey’s response to Michael Collins calling him out for the tombstone putter cover? He says “that’s not my fault that they can’t putt and I put them on there.” Collins adds that the group has “to look at that every time we getting ready to go play” and Ken Griffey Jr. chimed in with “and it glows in the dark.”

For what it’s worth, Ken Griffey Jr. appears twice in the GHIN app here in Florida. Once at Apogee Golf Club and once at Isleworth Country Club. His handicap index is listed at 5.1 for both courses. Presumably, the Apogee is the more up to date. His most recent entry is a score of 78. Pretty darn good for a 55-year-old dude who was never a professional golfer.

Whether or not he’s playing big money games on the golf course, that is a man who remains as competitive as ever. You don’t go out of your way to get a glow-in-the-dark putter cover with your opponent’s initials on it unless you want to gain that competitive edge. Also, he says ‘big money’ and not high stakes. Who knows what kind of bragging rights (and other prizes) they’re playing for out there.

Not for nothing, Griffey Jr. is saying this all in front of a trophy case that is displaying all of his Gold Glove awards from his MLB days. That’s quite the flex.