Before a ball leaves the tee, before the scorecard gets a number on it, GoldLinks Golf Club has already changed the vibe of the course.
This isn’t just a golf crew.
It’s a culture shift.
Born from a mix of HBCU grind, music-industry hustle, and a lifelong love of the game, GoldLinks is an online club and real-world community. Today, it’s a network of athletes, creatives, and entrepreneurs who are using golf to connect people, bridge culture, and rewrite who belongs on the fairway.
At the heart of that story are three voices: Billy “Swagga Vance” Jones, David Leeks, and Edward Hills. Together with their fellow founders, they’re proving that golf can be aspirational and accessible, elite and inviting, serious and straight up hilarious.
GoldLinks is what happens when the culture walks onto the course and refuses to shrink.
Billy “Swagga Vance” Jones: Big Electric Energy
In the golf world, he’s Billy J, Swagga Vance, Big Electric, Georgia Power in the South, Con Ed in the North, your favorite influencer’s favorite influencer.
At his core, Billy is a music guy, a creative, an entrepreneur, and “a true Maven in the aspect of being a connector.” He’s gone from music to tech to brands and now, golf is his second-half-of-life obsession. But that obsession didn’t start on Instagram. It started at 11 years old, when his father, who picked up golf late in life to strengthen his sales career, dragged him and his cousin to the course. They hated it at the time. Football was cooler. Quarterbacks got love. Golf? Not so much.
But the seed was planted.
Fast-forward 15 years. Billy is deep in the music industry running A&R meetings, grinding at Universal, moving in rooms where culture and commerce collide. One day, he cracks a joke in a meeting, saying, “I play golf,” as some executives putt on a mat in the office. They laughed. Billy? Golf? They gave him the “stop playing” face.
A week later, they invited him to an exclusive country club.
He hadn’t touched a club in over a decade. He bought a starter set, pulled up nervous and excited and on the very first tee, by nothing short of divine alignment, he smoked a drive straight down the middle. They looked at him in disbelief: Oh… he really do this.
He went on to shoot around a 130 that day “but they knew I had played before.”
More importantly, he realized something:
“I need to throw this back in my tool belt.”
That was the moment golf entered the story again not as a hobby, but as a life skill, a networking power, a cultural bridge.
And then came the moment that truly flipped the switch. Billy was running plays in the entertainment world, bringing athletes and artists into golf long before it became trendy. One day at a tournament, he and Leeks shot their first skit just for fun. No plan. No strategy. Just vibes.
It went viral.
Shortly after, a brand DM’d him:
“We want to pay for something you already do.”
Billy remembers thinking, Hold up… there’s real business here.
That’s when he knew: golf wasn’t just a game. It was a lane.
For Billy, golf is more than a pastime; it’s a mirror.
“It’s one of the only sports where it’s really you versus you. There’s nobody defending you. It’s just you, your mind, and your thoughts.”
He knows what it feels like to be the only Black member at a club, walking into spaces where people believe they already know what a Black golfer looks like, sounds like, or acts like. He jokes with his club that he’s Jackie Robinson in there but behind the humor is mission and intent: to kick doors down and keep them open.
That mental battle is part of why he’s so passionate about bringing more people our people into the game.
At first, it can be stares, side-eyes, assumptions.
But then the round starts.
“I’ve never played a full racist round of golf. By the third hole it disappears you share a few swings, a few laughs, and now you’re ‘my guy.’ Golf has a way of breaking people open like that.”
That’s the quiet revolution Billy is part of using the game itself as the great equalizer.
His presence in these spaces, his humor, his fearlessness, and his authenticity send a message every time he tees it up:
I belong here. And so do the people who look like me.
Now, Billy proudly calls GoldLinks “the Black Avengers of golf,” each member with a different superpower. His power is access and energy the ability to make any room crackle, to make the culture feel at home on the course, and to remind everybody that the game can be transformative.
“GoldLinks is the link between golf, culture, people, and authenticity. When you experience genuine people doing something they love, you can build friendships, partnerships, and a better version of yourself.”
That’s Billy’s gospel:
Golf as lifestyle.
Golf as community.
Golf as elevation.
Golf delivered with jokes, swagger, vulnerability, brotherhood, and full-throttle joy.
He didn’t choose golf.
Golf came back and chose him.
And he answered with purpose.
David Leeks: Architect of the Ecosystem
If Billy is the spark, David Leeks is the architect.
A Morehouse man and founding partner of Street Execs home to artists like 2 Chainz and Key Glock. Leeks has spent his career at the intersection of culture, business, and brand. Now he’s applying that same strategy to golf.
Leeks was introduced to the game in college. At first, he brushed it off that’s not my thing. But watching an older white guy hit easy, effortless bombs at the range flipped a switch.
The competitor in him woke up.
From there, golf became a quiet obsession. Years later, as he and Ed Hills reconnected in Atlanta, the game became a shared language. Then the Tour Championship called, trying to get his artist 2 Chainz involved in a way that didn’t quite make sense. They passed on the deal but the moment was a revelation.
Corporate golf wanted the culture; they just didn’t know how to do it authentically.
That’s where GoldLinks came in.
Leeks saw that golf and Hip-Hop were already speaking the same language passion, status, exclusivity, and storytelling. Those parallels led him to a deeper thesis: golf resonates in our community because it carries the same symbols of “we made it” as luxury cars, elite schools, and front-row seats.
“What we’re building is an ecosystem,” Leeks says. “We’ve got people from sports, music, fashion, law it’s all about showing what it means to be Black and love golf, without the filters.”
He knows Black culture isn’t a monolith, so GoldLinks doesn’t treat it like one. He breaks the audience down into overlapping worlds:
- Young professionals with disposable income who want country-club experiences and a good time with their crew.
- Current and former athletes who already get the competitive high and now want the community.
- Street entrepreneurs and grinders who see where the culture is moving and want in.
- Music and entertainment folks like Leeks and Billy who can experience the “best of” golf because of who they are, and feel a responsibility to open those doors for others.
GoldLinks is designed for all of them.
That’s why their events feel like a blend of college tour + day party + golf clinic. Semi-private and private courses. Barriers removed. Music playing. Laughter everywhere. DJs, drinks, and dope fits without sacrificing respect for the game.
“We want to take people to courses they never thought they’d play and remove all the stuffy, ‘you don’t belong here’ energy. Give them comfort music, laughter, fun and let them fall in love with the game on their own terms.”
Leeks is big on reciprocity, too. He’s the one pushing alumni associations, HBCUs, and Black organizations to turn these experiences into fundraising engines.
You want access to this premium vibe? Cool.
Let’s also write a check back to your institution.
It’s ecosystem building: culture feeding golf, golf feeding community, community feeding legacy.
Edward “Ed” Hills: The Golfer Who Saw the Bigger Picture
Where Billy and Leeks came to golf through business and culture, Edward Hills came up inside the ropes.
He started playing at five years old in Nashville with his grandfather. By high school, he was locking people down on the court as a defender and locking in on the course as a junior golfer. At Morehouse, he played on scholarship, set school records, and won tournaments. Then, for a while, golf stopped. Life took him into dental school and entrepreneurship.
Eventually, the game called him back.
He moved to Atlanta during COVID, started playing daily with Leeks, and unintentionally helped ignite a golf community.
Edward understands, more than most, what golf exposes:
“Golf teaches you how you handle adversity, how you act when things aren’t going well, and how you manage your emotions. You can’t lie to yourself and be a successful golfer.”
He also knows what it means to be the spectacle.
As a Black kid on a Jesuit high school team that had been around since the 1800s, he was the first one who looked like him carrying a bag in that uniform. People would double-take at the first tee like, Is this a mistake?
Then he’d hit the ball and everything changed.
That dynamic followed him into adulthood. Edward jokes that he’s inconspicuous until the first swing. People may look at his braids, his fit, his swag and wonder what he’s doing there. But once they see the game, the conversation flips.
That’s what he wants for the next generation: for kids who look like him to be seen as normal on a golf course, not an exception.
One of his favorite reminders of GoldLinks’ impact happened at one of the stuffiest country clubs in Atlanta Atlanta Athletic Club. Tradition on ten. Rules on a hundred.
He’s on the putting green. A pack of high school golfers walks over.
“Are you the dude from GoldLinks? The creator classic dude?”
These weren’t kids from his neighborhood or his background. They were just young golfers tapped into digital golf culture and GoldLinks was on their radar.
That’s when Edward knew: this thing had already jumped the fence.
GoldLinks isn’t just for the Black golf community; it’s influencing how everyone sees the game.
As he puts it, GoldLinks is “everybody.” A collective of seven founding members who are all wildly different lifelong golfers, NFL stars, music execs, lawyers, coaches, entrepreneurs moving with one mission.
They’re not just “Black Avengers of golf.”
They’re the Avengers of golf.
Because somewhere there’s a white kid practicing every day, hooping after school, trying to figure life out, and Edward sees himself in that kid too.
How the Avengers Assembled
The magic of GoldLinks didn’t start with a business plan it started with relationships, alignment, and a spark that kept pulling the right people into the same orbit. Billy and Leeks had been moving through the music world together for years, each mastering the art of culture-building from different angles. Edward and Leeks rekindled their bond during the pandemic, reconnecting on the course at a time when people needed community more than ever. Ed Hills the silent sniper with the smoothest swing and the most unbothered demeanor became the anchor who could walk into any course in America, be underestimated, and then silence the whole driving range with one swing. Then came Quincy Avery, the quarterback whisperer; Patrick Peterson, the NFL Hall-of-Fame-in-the-making superstar with generational discipline; and Henry “Butch” Bailey, the corporate tactician whose strategic mind rounded out the circle. Each man had a different story, a different superpower, a different lane but when they linked up, the synergy was undeniable. They weren’t just a crew; they were a collective. A brotherhood. A cultural force. Together they became what Billy calls “the Black Avengers of golf,” not because they were trying to be heroes, but because each of them brought a power the game had never seen before and combined, they became unstoppable.
From Shady Rest to the Collective Tour: A New Model of Golf & Culture
GoldLinks isn’t operating in isolation; it’s part of a historic throughline.
They draw direct inspiration from Shady Rest, the country’s first Black-owned country club in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, a sanctuary where Black golfers and Black excellence could thrive in a segregated era. GoldLinks is the digital-age evolution of that same spirit an online club and in-person movement “built for visionaries, tastemakers and athletes who share a passion for the game of golf.”
Today, GoldLinks is:
- Partnering with Athletes First, a premier sports representation agency, to expand brand partnerships and content opportunities for their golf and lifestyle collective.
- Rolling out the Collective Tour, a multi-city golf experience “built for the culture, community & the game,” opening doors for sponsors and partners who want to ride this new wave.
- Launching collaborations like the Gold Wolves capsule with Greyson Clothiers “more than pieces of apparel,” as Billy says, but “a representation of how we live and show up for each other… a way to connect, build community and bridge culture.”
Every reel, every event, every capsule is sending the same message:
Golf is bigger than the leaderboard.
It’s about laughs, swings, culture, and community.
Exclusively Inclusive
One of the most beautiful things about GoldLinks is that they are exclusively inclusive.
They’ve got exclusive access phone calls that open private courses, relationships that unlock elite spaces. But instead of hoarding it, they share it.
If you’ve ever felt like golf wasn’t for you because:
- you didn’t grow up with country-club money,
- you don’t own a full set of clubs,
- you don’t see people like you on golf commercials,
- or you thought you had to code-switch your way through 18 holes
GoldLinks is here to say: Nah. Pull up as you are.
Come as the accountant in Jordans.
Come as the DJ, the teacher, the founder, the artist, the dad with a 20-handicap and a 2-year-old.
Come as the person who slices it off the first tee and still laughs.
They’re building spaces where you can:
- Play bucket-list courses without the side-eye.
- Network with people you might never meet in a boardroom.
- Experience the “finer things” in life good food, good vibes, good greens.
- Give back to HBCUs and community programs at the same time.
And yes, they’re already dreaming about collaborations that tie it all together like future drops and events that merge GoldLinks with movements like TheBlackManCan turning culture, community, and cause into one powerful swing.
The Legacy They’re Building — and the Legacy They’re Repairing
The beauty of GoldLinks is that it isn’t just building something new it’s repairing something that was stolen. Golf has always belonged to us. From the caddies who mastered the game but were barred from the tee box, to the legends who never got the chance to write their names into the record books, to the parents and grandparents who played at muni courses because club gates were locked, our presence in this game has been real even when it wasn’t recognized. GoldLinks is honoring that lineage not with solemn speeches, but with laughter, with access, with community, with joy that refuses to apologize. They’re doing what Shady Rest did generations ago: turning exclusion into belonging, turning quiet barriers into loud breakthroughs, turning the fairway into a cultural homecoming. And in every city they touch, every young golfer they inspire, every private course they walk into as themselves, they’re telling the ancestors, “We didn’t just make it we brought the whole culture with us.” Because what GoldLinks is building isn’t just a club; it’s a movement. It’s a reminder that when Black men step into a space together, fully themselves, fully free, fully rooted in culture, the entire world shifts. Their presence challenges stereotypes, their excellence disrupts norms, and their unity reveals what happens when talent, joy, creativity, grit, and community collide. GoldLinks is showing a generation that golf isn’t defined by silence, stiffness, or separation it’s a game built on integrity, relationships, and resilience. And when you bring the culture into that kind of ecosystem, everything evolves. This crew with their backgrounds, their networks, their swag, their grind is redefining how golf is played, who it’s played by, and what it feels like to experience it. They’re not just expanding the game; they’re expanding what’s possible when Black men choose to build, dream, swing, laugh, and lead together. GoldLinks isn’t asking permission. They’re setting a new standard and the game will never be the same.
GoldLinks Is Already Changing the Game
People keep saying GoldLinks is going to change golf.
Ed will tell you plainly: they already are.
- When high school kids at a traditional country club recognize a Black golf creator and his crew? That’s change.
- When NFL All-Pros, Grammy winners, and first-time golfers share the same fairway and feel equally at home? That’s change.
- When brands line up to support what used to be “just some funny golf videos with the homies”? That’s change.
GoldLinks is proof that:
- You don’t have to shrink who you are to belong in elite spaces.
- You can respect the traditions of a game while remixing how it looks and feels.
- Community is the real flex.
So if you’ve ever wondered whether you belong on a golf course, this is your sign.
You do.
Grab a club.
Tap in with the GoldLinks squad.
And step into a game that’s finally starting to look like the world we live in and the future we’re trying to build.