Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Smeal.
Hi Chris, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My journey in golf really started with a love for coaching and helping young players get better. I became a PGA Professional and have spent more than 20 years coaching junior golfers, and early on I realized there was a need for better competitive opportunities for kids who wanted to develop their games and eventually play college golf.
That led me to start Future Champions Golf (FCG) in San Diego. What began as a local junior golf program and tournament series has grown into something much bigger than I ever imagined. Today, FCG hosts hundreds of tournaments and qualifying events each year, with players coming from all over the United States and more than 40 countries around the world.
One of the things I’m most proud of is the pathway we’ve created. Thousands of FCG players have gone on to play college golf, and many of our former players have reached the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and other professional tours. Players like Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Aaron Wise, Beau Hossler, Alison Lee, Andrea Lee, Akshay Bhatia and many others competed with FCG during their junior golf years. It’s pretty incredible to look back and see where some of those kids are today.
But I’ve always looked at FCG as something we can continue improving. We now host major international championships, including the FCG Callaway World Championship, which most recently brought together more than 750 players from 42 countries. We’ve built partnerships and qualifying systems around the world, added livestream coverage to our major championships, created pathways into elite amateur and professional events, and we’re launching the FCG Global Golf Games in 2027 to give junior golfers the opportunity to represent their countries in international team competition.
Another big part of the next chapter is Campus, a college golf recruiting platform I co-founded to help junior golfers and families navigate what can be a very confusing recruiting process. After helping hundreds of players through college recruiting as a coach, I wanted to create technology and resources that could make that same guidance available to players everywhere.
Through all the growth, though, I’ve tried to keep FCG centered around the same philosophy we’ve had from the beginning: “It’s a Family Out Here.”
For me, this has never just been about running golf tournaments. It’s about creating opportunities and experiences for kids, helping them develop as players and people, connecting families from around the world, and building pathways that can take a young golfer as far as they want to go.
We’re more than 20 years into the journey now, and I still feel like we’re just getting started.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t always been a smooth road. Anytime you’re building something from the ground up, there are going to be challenges, and we’ve had plenty over more than 20 years of growing FCG.
One of the biggest challenges was COVID. Like everyone else, we really didn’t know what was going to happen. We were completely shut down for about six weeks, which was a scary time when your business revolves around bringing people together for competitive events.
But we worked hard to find a way forward. We developed new procedures, worked closely with golf courses and local officials, and FCG became one of the first junior golf tours to reopen and safely get kids back on the golf course competing. That was something I was really proud of.
It also reminded me why what we do is important. Kids had lost school, sports, social interaction and so much of their normal routine. Being able to give them an opportunity to get outside, compete and see their friends again meant a lot to our families and to us.
There have been plenty of other challenges along the way—growing the business, taking financial risks, managing hundreds of events, building a great team and constantly trying to stay ahead and create better opportunities for our players. But I’ve always looked at challenges as an opportunity to adapt and get better.
I think that’s been a big part of FCG’s growth. We’re never afraid to change, try something new or find a way to make something work.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Future Champions Golf (FCG) is a San Diego-based junior golf organization with a global reach. We specialize in creating competitive tournament experiences and development pathways that help junior golfers progress from their first events all the way through elite junior golf, college golf and, for some, professional golf.
Today, FCG hosts 200+ tournaments and qualifying events annually, from developmental events in Southern California to nationally ranked championships and international qualifiers around the world. Our major championships attract players from across the United States and more than 40 countries.
More Than a Tournament Tour
I think what really sets FCG apart is the pathway and the community we’ve built around the tournaments. We don’t want players to simply enter an event, play and go home. We are constantly asking what else we can provide that helps that player take the next step.
That includes pathways into our biggest championships, college recruiting opportunities through Campus, exposure to college coaches, livestream coverage at our major events, international team competitions, elite amateur exemptions and even opportunities to compete in professional events.
We’re also launching the FCG Global Golf Games in 2027, which will bring national teams from around the world together in Southern California. Team USA players will have the opportunity to qualify through a new nationwide qualifying system, while our international partnerships will bring teams from around the world.
Coaching at Stadium Golf Center
Coaching has always been a huge part of who I am and really where all of this started. I’m a PGA Professional and have been coaching junior golfers for more than 20 years, primarily at Stadium Golf Center in San Diego.
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to personally help more than 230 junior golfers receive opportunities and scholarships to play college golf. That’s something I’m extremely proud of.
My coaching philosophy has always gone beyond just teaching the golf swing. I try to help players understand how to practice, compete, manage themselves on the golf course, set goals and navigate the entire process of becoming a college golfer.
Being a coach has also had a huge influence on how we’ve built FCG. I’m around junior golfers and their families every day, so I see firsthand what they need, where the challenges are and where we can create better opportunities.
That experience also played a big role in the development of Campus, our college golf recruiting platform. After spending decades personally helping families navigate recruiting, we wanted to build technology that could provide better tools, education and connections to junior golfers everywhere.
What I’m Most Proud of About FCG
One of the things I’m most proud of brand-wise is that FCG has become truly international while still maintaining the culture we started with in San Diego more than 20 years ago.
Our motto is “It’s a Family Out Here,” and that isn’t just a tagline. We’ve watched kids grow up through FCG, go to college, become professionals, and in some cases come back years later as coaches, parents, sponsors and supporters. We’ve developed relationships with families and golf organizations all over the world.
I’m also incredibly proud of our alumni. More than 3,500 FCG players have gone on to play college golf, and our alumni include major champions, PGA and LPGA Tour winners and some of the best players in the game. To know that FCG played a small role in their development is pretty special.
At the same time, we’re not only focused on the player who is going to become a PGA Tour star. Success might mean earning a college scholarship, making a high school team, shooting a personal best, traveling internationally for the first time, or simply developing a lifelong love for golf.
Ultimately, I want people to know that FCG is much more than a tournament tour. We’re building a global junior golf ecosystem that connects competition, player development, coaching, college recruiting, technology, media and international opportunities.
And even after more than 20 years, we’re still constantly looking for ways to make the experience better and create more opportunities for the next generation of golfers.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I think one of the most important qualities behind my success is the ability to identify problems and find solutions. That has helped me tremendously as a golf coach, but it has also shaped the way I’ve built FCG and the other things I’ve been involved with.
As a coach, every player is different. You have to be able to look beyond the golf swing, figure out what is really holding someone back, and then communicate a solution in a way that makes sense to that individual.
But probably the quality that comes most naturally to me is empathy. I’ve always been able to sense what people are experiencing and put myself in their position. Whether I’m working with a junior golfer who is struggling with confidence, a parent trying to understand college recruiting, or someone on our team dealing with a challenge, I can usually get a good feel for what they’re going through and how I might be able to help.
I think that combination of problem solving and empathy has been really important. It’s one thing to recognize a problem; it’s another to understand the person experiencing it and find a solution that actually helps them.
That carries over into how I’ve built FCG as well. A lot of our best ideas have come from simply listening to players and families, recognizing where something could be better, and then trying to build the solution.
At the end of the day, I’ve always genuinely enjoyed helping people succeed. Whether that’s helping a young golfer improve, helping someone find the right college opportunity, or creating a new pathway through FCG, seeing someone benefit from something we’ve helped create is probably the most rewarding part of what I do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chrissmeal.com
