Summer is over, and 9-year-old Austin Kranz is taking a break from golf. After six junior golf tournaments this summer, and five tournament wins, he’s been forced to slow down—“Because my teacher gives me homework every day and I have to do it,” he explained.
That doesn’t mean he’s stopping for good. No, this golfer has plans to keep playing for a long time.
“It’s fun to play golf, because you get better and better,” he said.
A veteran golfer, Kranz has been hitting the greens since he was 3 and his dad introduced him to the sport. He’s stuck with it, and now golfing is his favorite hobby.
Kranz said that he’s really good at chipping, and he likes to play on challenging courses. Though Marshallia Ranch is his home course, he said that his favorite local course is La Purisima in Lompoc.
“It’s more of a challenging course,” he said.
Some day, Kranz wants to leave California to play in Ireland and Scotland on some of the greatest golf courses in the world. First, though, he’ll have to get through the fourth grade.
In the meantime, he can practice and keep working on his game. Kranz’s best score is a 110, but he normally hits around 120. He’s keeps his score on the low side by concentrating out on the course.
“I’m usually thinking about how I’m going to get the ball on the green or the straightaway,” he said.
This article appears in Sep 18-25, 2008.