10-year-old prodigy thrives on golf coach’s fun lessons
Huang of Vancouver won kids’ championship in 2018
Sure, it takes some natural talent to be a golf superstar at a young age, but even more important is a willingness to put in the diligent work to stay at the top, golf coach Rob Houlding insists.
Such is the story of 10-yearold Anna Huang. The Vancouver girl finished third at the recent Drive, Pitch and Putt National Finals tournament in Augusta, Ga., the home of the fabled Masters.
Huang, who has been playing golf before she was in kindergarten, also won the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship in 2018.
“She’s exceptionally strong for her age,” Houlding, her coach, says. “Also, she’s brilliant. Very focused. You suggest something and she asks ‘like this?’ and then she just goes and does it.”
That all requires hard work. “Anna’s schedule is six days a week with a club in her hand,” he says. “She’s thinking about it all the time. And at home, her family has a simulator and a putting green.”
Houlding has been coaching Huang since she was seven; she first came to his attention because he also coaches her older brother Aaron, who is “another excellent golfer.”
One of Huang’s best friends is 12-year-old Michelle Liu, another of Houlding’s students and well-accomplished player. Michelle won the girls’ 9-10 division at the elite 2017 IMG Academy Junior World Championships.
She’s exceptionally strong for her age. Also, she’s brilliant.” Golf coach Rob Houlding
The two girls love to compete with the other children who train at Houlding’s golf academy in Richmond. Houlding has about 70 kids enrolled in the training program.
“I think it’s important to create a culture that’s competitive, but also fun,” he says. “When you’re bringing these kids along, you want to have success, to help build their self-esteem.”
During the past 15 years, he says he’s seen a great deal of growth in junior golf — and not just among youngsters who have elite golf dreams.
“They aren’t concerned with becoming professionals, they want to have something that they can point to when it comes to applying for school,” he said.
Golf, after all, takes a lot of practise to just become competent. Working at golf can be seen as a good leading indicator, one that shows a young person has stuck with a longterm project to develop a competency in a sport.
“There’s a correlation, definitely,” Houlding says.