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ST GEORGE — Golf is a sport where it takes years of skill and practice to become successful. But 8-year-old Cruz Kirchhausen of St. George has been practicing his skills since he was four and is coming along nicely.
Cruz has taken first place in many golf tournaments around Utah. Last month he competed against some of the world's best junior golfers in the Callaway Junior Wold Golf Championship in San Diego. When Cruz first hit the links, he had his own struggles, until he learned one of the key to the game.
"You gotta believe that you can hit a great shot on your next shot," Cruz said. "You can't let your head get outta the game, because it can screw up your whole game."
Kirchhausen is just eight years old, but already he knows he'll be playing golf for the rest of his life. In his four years on the links, the St. George golfer has racked up an impressive collection of accolades that has seasoned "duffers" taking note. But it took Cruz a little while to ease into the sport he loves.
"I [used to] hit my ball with [my] driver for like 50 yards," Cruz said of his beginnings. "It was always hard for me to get to the green on par."
The struggle didn't last too long. Over the past 18 months, Cruz has developed a real drive for the game.
You gotta believe that you can hit a great shot on your next shot. You can't let your head get outta the game, because it can screw up your whole game.
–Cruz Kirchhausen
"He just has a passion for it, and that's just what is so exciting," said Cruz's father Heinz Kirchhausen. "It's fun to see him step up to a putt or a drive, and just have that determined look in his eye. It's that flame, that fire, that he has."
That fire has helped Cruz take first place in many junior golf tournaments around Utah — including the state qualifier for last month's Callaway Junior World Golf Championship in San Diego.
There, Cruz competed against top golfers his age from as far away as South Africa, India and Thailand. And though he didn't win a trophy, he walked away with greater confidence in his game.
"It was definitely a stressful situation," Heinz said, "but it did so much for his game. He was able to field that pressure, and to be able to pull through it, the experience that gives to him is invaluable."
For now, Cruz will keep working to improve his game - getting in about ten hours of golf every week. His favorite part is one many golfers are typically not thrilled about — putting.
"You can hit it really far, but mess up your whole game by putting," Cruz said. "I have to hit in two to get on the green, but I can do it one putt or two putt, so I can get a bogey or par."
Cruz says his favorite pro is Rickie Fowler, who burst out on the PGA Tour scene two years ago. He collects Fowler's signature Puma caps — he calls them his lucky hats.
As far his own future, Cruz says his goal is to make it to the last day of a US Open. And he dreams of playing in the Masters — when he grows up.
