Q&A with this month’s #PlattProfile, Khalil Sergeant
Khalil Sergeant is a 19-year-old student at Howard University, where he is studying economics. A two-year caddie at Rolling Green Golf Club, Khalil enjoys meeting people from all different backgrounds through caddying and hopes to use his career in banking to give back to and uplift his community.
(This interview has been edited for clarity and length.)
Q: How old are you?
A: I am 19.
Q: What school are you currently attending?
A: I currently attend Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Q: When do you graduate?
A: May 2028.
Q: What is your major?
A: My major is economics.
Q: How did you decide on that major?
A: I decided on economics because I wanted to give back to my community in some type of way. I feel as though, with economics, I can help bridge disparities and gaps in wealth and finance.
Q: Do you participate in any school activities or clubs?
A: Yes! I am currently part of my school’s Philadelphia Club, which brings together students from Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. I am also part of the running club and the Economics Society.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
A: Yes! When I am not doing schoolwork, I like to both watch and play soccer. I also like working out and watching movies. I enjoy all different types of movies.
Q: What golf club do you caddie at?
A: I currently caddie at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, Pennsylvania.
Q: How long have you been caddying there?
A: I have been caddying since 2024, so now it has been about two years.
Q: How did you get into caddying at the club?
A: I got into caddying through J. Wood Platt. Mr. Andrew Downs came to my high school one day and gave a seminar about caddying and its benefits. I thought, “Hey, this is something I think I would want to do.” I talked with Mr. Downs more, and he got me connected with Rolling Green.
Q: What is your favorite thing about caddying?
A: My favorite thing about caddying is probably meeting new people. I feel like every single round there is always someone new that I meet. It’s never really the same person, and I get to meet people from all different types of backgrounds. Once, I caddied for a guy from the UK, and his accent the entire round was super funny to me. I’ve also caddied for people who were coaches at Penn State and coaches from different colleges and football programs. I think that’s probably the best part.
Q: What are your long-term goals? (5–10 years)
A: For my long-term goals, I plan to use my degree to get into banking and use the knowledge I gain from there to come back and uplift my community by empowering community businesses through equity and self-investment.
Q: What is something that happened to you while working at your club that you will never forget?
A: Something I’ll never forget while working at Rolling Green is when there was an incoming thunderstorm and my group was all the way on hole 16. I was forecaddying the entire round; however, they chose to walk, so none of us had a golf cart. The storm started to pick up as we were waiting for assistance, and by the time someone got there, they realized they hadn’t accounted for four people needing to be taken back to the clubhouse. So, like a scene out of Fast & Furious or something, there I am hanging onto the side as we whip and barrel through the course to get to shelter. Looking back, it was sort of like a fun roller coaster, minus the safety precautions.
Q: What advice would you give your younger self?
A: Some advice I would give to my younger self is to take it easy. Everything comes to fruition in due time, so there really isn’t a point in stressing over things that are currently out of your control.
Q: How has J. Wood Platt changed your life?
A: J. Wood Platt has changed my life by connecting me with and giving me the opportunity to speak with successful people from various lines of work. Any insight is always valuable, and I can confidently say the talks I’ve had while on the golf course have certainly steered the trajectory of my career path. Everyone I speak to is knowledgeable in what they talk about, and I believe that in itself is one of the bigger perks of the job.
J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust
The J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust was created in 1958 and is the charitable arm of GAP (Golf Association of Philadelphia). The J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust’s mission is to financially aid and empower qualified caddies and those working in golf operations in the pursuit of higher education. Along with aiding caddies financially, J. Wood Platt’s EMPOWER program strengthens scholarship investment dollars by providing caddies with exceptional benefits and leadership training through access to the wide network of J. Wood Platt donors and alumni. To date, more than 4,200 young men and women have received $29 million in aid from the Trust.
