When Casey Martin was hired as head coach of the men’s golf team in 2006, he quickly dove headfirst into the recruiting process.
Pouring through dozens of scorecards and record books, he began to notice a pattern: One person’s name was appearing more than any others, and his scores were remarkable. But he wasn’t an 18-year-old, or even a 17-year-old.
He was a 15-year-old by the name of Eugene Wong.
Even though Wong was just a sophomore in high school at the time, Martin knew he was special. He began recruiting Wong during his junior year, and finally convinced the Canadian to come to Oregon in the summer of 2007.
Almost three years later, Wong is the best player on an Oregon team that is currently ranked fourth in the nation. As of last week, Wong himself is also ranked fifth individually by Golfstat, and has placed in the top three of five different tournaments this year.
According to Martin, the sky is the limit for Wong. But every journey has to start somewhere.
For Wong, that journey started with a small, plastic golf club. When he was just 3 years old, a new driving range was built 15 minutes away from his home in Vancouver, British Columbia. Sensing an opportunity for fun, Wong’s father decided to take the family to the new range and hit balls.
Armed with the plastic club, Wong had instantly found a new hobby.
“I’d just go there and whack all the balls I could hit,” Wong said. “It was fun for me.”
Wong continued to play other sports, but by the age of 6, he was convinced golf was the game for him. He played in his first tournament when he was seven, and at the tender age of 12 competed against a field filled with 18-year-olds. To his surprise, he played well.
After a successful appearance in a tournament against much older peers, Wong’s confidence grew. A year later, at 13, he entered a junior event with more 18-year-olds — and won. Quickly, golf had gone from a simple pastime to something far more profound.
“That’s when I thought I was good enough to go on and pursue golf as my career,” Wong said.
Things did not slow down at Handsworth High School, where Wong continued to hone his game. As his name popped up more and more on scorecards, college coaches began to take notice. The first time Martin saw Wong was at the Junior America’s Cup.
“I remember just watching him hit some shots going, ‘This kid’s going to be really good,’” said Martin.
Though he had many potential suitors, Wong eventually narrowed his choices down to Washington and Oregon. Seeing the potential Oregon showed with Martin at the helm, he jumped aboard.
With his college choice made, Wong was finally able to play at ease. In the summer before his freshman year at Oregon, he was nothing short of dominant. Though he won numerous tournaments, one victory stood out in particular to Martin: the Junior World Championships in San Diego.
“(It’s) one of the biggest junior championships around,” Martin said. “Tiger (Woods) and Phil Mickelson have won that.”
Given the accolades he had earned the previous summer, Wong may have come into his freshman year at Oregon with a bit too much confidence. Though he earned an All-Pac-10 honorable mention, his freshman year turned into more of a building year than anything else.
“He probably had a little bit unrealistic expectations of what he was able to accomplish,” Martin said. “I think he thought he was just going to plow through college golf, and it’s quite a significant step up.”
This year, in his second season, Wong has proven battle-tested and more mature. His first career individual win came at the USC Invitational, where he finished 10-under par for a narrow one-stroke victory. The team also finished first in that tournament by a whopping 16 strokes.
Martin attributes this improvement to Wong’s enhanced drive length and accuracy, as well as an impeccable short game.
“He’s the best chipper I’ve ever been around,” Martin said. “He chips in more than any person I’ve ever seen.”
Still, golf is as much a mental game as it is physical. Luckily, Wong possesses the unique ability to remain calm on the course.
“Mentally, he’s solid, he doesn’t get nervous,” teammate and roommate Andrew Vijarro said. “It’s almost like he doesn’t care out there. We know he does, but he plays as if he doesn’t care, which is a huge quality to have.”
Though Wong prefers not to look ahead, his future is bright with opportunity. Martin stresses that the sophomore will have to continue to work hard, but he pulls no punches when it comes to Wong’s potential.
“I think we’ll be seeing him on TV in the future,” Martin said. “I think he’s that good.”
And to think, it all started with that little plastic club.
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From juniors champ to sophomore leader
Daily Emerald
April 6, 2010
Geoff Thurner
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