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We just wanted to give a little shoutout to one of our academy golfers, Isaac Smith, who has recently become Yorkshire Boys Champion 2022 at the age of 17!
Like many others, Isaac has been with us from an early age of just 7 years old when one of our coaches visited his primary school to deliver a tri-golf session as part of our grass-roots outreach programme.
This is a fantastic way to introduce the game of golf to young children with oversized plastic clubs and soft spongey balls. As we are sure you are aware… we have an increasingly short window in order to capture a child’s attention and keep them engaged in an activity. We need to make sure that they experience that incredible feeling of smashing a ball and seeing it soar through the air at a great height. You never know, it could just make them a golfer for life!
Once Isaac had his first taste of golf, he joined us at the academy in our weekly group classes. Here you can expect an action-packed hour of fun and games with music pumping, kids shouting and giggling whilst learning all they need to become great athletes and golfers. You would be surprised just how fast a child can learn to strike a golf ball if they are presented with the proper task and the right environment for skill-development. There is plenty of time when they get a little older to fine-tune that technique if they feel they want some extra help!
By the age of 11, Isaac was truly hooked on the game and registered for his first official handicap of 28. One year passed and he was showing some real signs of dedication getting his handicap down to 19 and taking part in club and local competitions. Fast forward a couple more years and he was still loving the game and playing off a handicap of 8. It was at this point that Isaac and his family decided to invest in regular private lessons with Tom Huttunen who has coached Isaac ever since.
At age 15, Isaac went on to become Leeds & District U18’s Champion. This gave him the world of confidence to know that he could compete amongst the best of his peer group. His handicap kept on tumbling to the current day where Isaac is 17 years old and playing off a +1 HCP. Since July of 2021, Isaac has also had the honour of representing his county of Yorkshire in matches and tournaments.
This brings us to his latest achievement in winning the prestigious Yorkshire Boys Championship 2022 to join Ryder Cup legends and major winners such as Simon Dyson, former Master Champion Danny Willett and recent US Open Champion Matt Fitzpatrick!
Isaac is now pondering his future and the role that he would like golf to play in his life. Not just a one-trick pony, he is targeting straight A’s in his exams to pursue a degree in Law. He will likely take a gap year to do some travelling and see just how far he can take his golf game with an ambition to make it to the very top of amateur golf and play for England on an international stage!
Isaac follows in Jake Wallis’ footsteps who also progressed through our junior programme at the academy to win the Yorkshire Boys Amateur Championship in 2020 and these are just two of the thousands of junior golfers that have joined us here at the academy. It is our great pleasure to be able to provide a safe space where kids can hangout, learn new skills and create a life-long passion for the game of golf!
If you would like to get your child involved then follow this link for more information:
We hope to see you soon!