Nine-year-old showed us how to play
To all golf fans
My mate Joe and I played golf at Huddle Park last Saturday, as we often do. Our regular partners weren’t available so we were joined by one of Joe’s business colleagues and his nineyear-old son.
My immediate thought was that I wouldn’t be the kakkest player in the fourball and that the kid would probably hold us up all morning. How wrong I was.
He played off the ladies’ tees and, for such a little guy, hit the ball impressively well. He never missed a fairway all day and even parred a couple of the holes. There were a few double bogeys, but more one-overs and I quickly realised he was a real talent.
He was wearing a Nike cap and a Nike shirt, and on one of the tees his father, Russell, pointed out his shorts and belt to me. The shorts had the Nike flash drawn on the back pocket in black permanent marker and the belt buckle had also been adorned with a home-drawn version of that manufacturer’s name and instantly recognisable swoosh.
I don’t so much swing at the ball as bludgeon it, and on one of the par fives, after Joe and I had teed off, the youngster offered us an impromptu coaching session. “Guy and Joe,” he said. “You guys must try to keep your left arm straight when you swing. I notice both of you bend your left arm.”
His swing was something out of a coaching manual so it was difficult to be dismissive of his advice.
On one of the par threes, he came up short of the green with his tee shot, a bunker between him and the pin.
He took out his wedge and addressed the ball. “Boy,” Russell said, “your alignment is all wrong”.
“Dad,” he replied, rolling his eyes, “I’m opening the clubface to get the ball to land softly.” And that’s exactly what he did, his exquisite chip landing within a metre of the hole.
He is not yet a member of a club but spends lots of time at the Gillooly’s driving range, honing his swing. He has never had a golf lesson in his life and learnt the game by copying his idols on TV.
He has the same routine on every tee. Two practice swings, step back and line up the shot, adjust the belt buckle, and step up and let rip. So he not only has the game he’s watched for so many hours on the box, he also has all the mannerisms of a pro.
On one of the holes, when Joe pulled his approach but got a favourable bounce off an embankment which propelled the ball onto the green, the kid piped up: “That was a lucky break.”
“He first picked up a club at the age of about two,” Russell told me, “and he has been besotted with the game for as long as I can remember”.
Remember the name Keegan Cockburn. I have no doubt he’ll one day be taking the golfing world by storm.