Amir Malik is on a drive to make golf more inclusive for Muslims. In a series of events and initiatives, he helps introduce Muslim women and men to the sport by mentoring and volunteering. Malik, who grew up in suburban New Jersey, is currently the CEO of the Association of Golf Professionals women’s division. He has also acted as the chairman of the Council on Social Justice, a national organization of golf professionals, and sits on the Advisory Board of the USC Inter-Faith Youth Leadership Team.
Malik was born to a Muslim Pakistani father and a white Jewish mother. He was raised in suburban Jersey as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was elected to the House of Representatives of the Pakistan Muslim League party in 2002 — a countrywide election that has been characterized by violent crackdowns against political opponents. The country’s electoral code forbids any candidate for the office of president to have an electoral mandate from the people. Malik was first elected in a run-off on 25th February, 2011.
Malik has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and CNN. His company is making golf more accessible to Muslims by offering free golf lessons and clubs for people of all ages, and by developing golf-only clubs for girls and women who are unable to join the PGA, which is overwhelmingly male. Malik says that his club-less clubs are designed for the elderly to prevent injury, and have a smaller hitting area for women to avoid bumping into others. When he was recently contacted by the Associated Press and asked about his club-less clubs, Malik said that it was a “very big issue,” but he would not be saying anything else about it.
On March 22nd, Malik started a week-long golf outing at a PGA tour event, the 2014 Ryder Cup, that was hosted by the University of Georgia. The Muslim team of Muhammad Naeem Khan, Azhar Mahmood Sheikh and Syed Muhammad Rafique Ahmed — along with several non-Muslim players — took a week off from work and school to train on the PGA golf course. While the event focused on golf, the trio also talked with golfers of all religions, and made their way to the event’