Turned professional at 17 years old on December 17, 2024. Made his professional debut at the 2025 American Express (missed cut). Previously made his PGA TOUR debut as an amateur at the 2024 ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, where he finished T26 as a sponsor exemption at 16 years, 11 months, 21 days of age.

Earned a black belt in tae kwon do in his youth.

Grew up a huge fan of Rickie Fowler, and loved to wear all of Rickie’s signature orange gear.

Prepped at Brentwood Academy in Nashville, Tennessee until after his sophomore year of high school (was reported he left the school in July 2024), at which time he continued his studies online. A notable Brentwood Academy alum is NFL All-Pro defensive back Jalen Ramsey (Class of 2013).

Although Blades did not play college golf, he went through the recruiting process and took official visits to Florida State, Illinois, Stanford, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. His official visit to Vanderbilt was the same weekend the football team stunned No. 1-ranked Alabama in October 2024. Blades recalled, “That was the most into a football game I’ve ever been.”

Mother, Rhonda Blades Brown, played two seasons in the WNBA (1997, 1998) after four seasons at Vanderbilt University (1991-95). She was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023, as she grew up in Springfield, Missouri and played at Parkview High School. Rhonda said of her induction, “Being inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is one of the highlights of my basketball career. I have dreamed since I was a little girl that I would be considered one of the best to come through the state of Missouri, and I’m very thankful and grateful to be considered worth of this honor.”

Rhonda played the inaugural WNBA season in 1997 as a member of the New York Liberty, and she made the first 3-pointer in league history in the league’s inaugural game on June 21, 1997. Rhonda played for the Detroit Shock in her second and final WNBA season in 1998. After professional seasons in Israel and Turkey, Rhonda left professional basketball in 2001.

Following her playing career, Rhonda spent 23 seasons as coach of the Brentwood Academy girls basketball team in Nashville, Tennessee. Rhonda, who also taught at the school, stepped down in February 2024 after five state championships (2006, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018) and 475 victories.

Father, Parke, battles Hairy Cell Leukemia. Parke was initially diagnosed with bone cancer and only given months to live in 2022, though doctors discovered through additional tests he actually had Hairy Cell Leukemia – an extremely rare form of the disease (according to the Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation, only two percent of adult patients with leukemia have this form of the disease) which is treatable but not curable. Parke went through 20 rounds of chemotherapy in the early months of his diagnosis, and his health stabilized by the time Blades turned professional in December 2024.

Older sister, Millie, plays college basketball and will be a senior for the 2025-26 season at University of Alabama in Huntsville, an NCAA Division II program. Millie previously played two seasons at University of North Carolina Asheville (2022-24). Millie played on the varsity team for five seasons at Brentwood Academy and was a member of the 2018 state championship-winning team -- coached by her mom, Rhonda -- as an eighth-grader.

Named the 2024 AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year. Past recipients of the award include Phil Mickelson (1986, 1987, 1988), David Duval (1989), Tiger Woods (1991, 1992), Brian Harman (2003, 2004), Jordan Spieth (2009), Scottie Scheffler (2013), Sam Burns (2014), Akshay Bhatia (2018), and Nick Dunlap (2021).

At the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship, contested at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado, shared stroke play medalist honors with Sampson Zheng and Jackson Buchanan, becoming the youngest stroke play medalist in U.S. Amateur history at 16 years old. The previous record was held by Bobby Jones, who earned medalist honors in 1920 at 18 years old. Brown was eliminated from match play by Jackson Koivun in the Round of 32.

Earned stroke play medalist honors at the 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, contested at Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan. Coupled with co-medalist honors from the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship, followed Bobby Clampett and Tiger Woods as the third player in history to earn medalist honors at both the U.S. Amateur and U.S Junior Amateur. Brown was eliminated by eventual champion Trevor Gutschewski, son of multi-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Scott Gutschewski, in the Round of 32.

Qualified for match play at the 2024 Western Amateur Championship; he lost to eventual champion Ian Gilligan in the first round of match play.

Represented the United States at the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup in Quebec, Canada. The United States team was captained by multi-time PGA TOUR winner Charley Hoffman.

Runner-up finisher at the 2024 Junior PLAYERS Championship (lost a playoff to Hamilton Coleman), and previously finished T13 at the 2023 Junior PLAYERS Championship (won by Miles Russell).

Won the 2023 Wyndham Invitational, an annual AJGA event contested at Sedgefield Country Club, host of the PGA TOUR’s Wyndham Championship. Past champions of the AJGA event include PGA TOUR winners Brian Harman (2003, 2004 – neither contested at Sedgefield Country Club), Justin Thomas (2009), and Karl Vilips (2018).

Won three consecutive Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association individual state titles, winning the Division II-AA titles in fall 2021 (won by six strokes), 2022 (won by three strokes) and 2023 (won by five strokes).

Won a 2023 AJGA event at Canebrake Club in Athens, Alabama. Canebrake Club is where PGA TOUR winner Lee Hodges grew up playing, and Hodges became a co-owner of the club in August 2024.