WHEN he was just 18 months old, Hudson ‘Huddy’ Mundy picked up an ice hockey stick and began hitting balls around his yard.

While that sounds like an ordinary thing for a young child to do, his father Matt noticed something quite peculiar about the form and leg movements he made while hitting the ball.

It was like he was a professional golfer, and true to his observation, Huddy would soon not only take up golf but excel in the sport.

So far this year, the six-year-old has won eight SA Kids competition tournaments with 15 trophies in his age group (ages 5–6).

The SA Kids Golf organisation was founded in 2004 as a stepping stone to competitive golf for young players across the country.

Huddy, who is in Grade One in Chelsea Preparatory School, is now gearing up for the Junior African Golf Challenge at San Lameer which runs from August 18 to 23.

“My goal for this competition is to finish in the top three and maybe to get a hole-in-one. I’m looking forward to the event because it’s being held at a golf course I know well,” he said.

When he’s not playing, Huddy is watching golf on TV.

“I like watching other professional golfers on the TV to pick up tips, learn from small movements and to see how the pros do it. I also enjoy watching Scottie Scheffler as he is my favourite professional golfer and people say I look like him.”

His father, Matt, said that, as a family, their role is to nurture Huddy’s talents and support him in whatever way they can.

“He has effectively been playing golf since the first time he picked up a golf club. The story behind it is that I used to play a lot of ice hockey. At the time, I also made an ice hockey stick for my daughter, Willow, and she grew out of it. I noticed Huddy picked that up and started swinging to hit balls in the yard. I noticed the movement of his feet and the twisting of his hips and thought, ‘Jee-whizz, where did you learn this?’ We then bought him his first pair of golf clubs at the age of three, he started playing competitive golf a year later, and the rest is history.

“He has got to the point now where he is pinching my clubs. We just have to rebuild all of his clubs by bringing in new golf shafts from the USA. It is cheaper to bring them in than to do it here. His goal is always to better his scores while having fun. He plays every Saturday at the Royal Country Club Golf Course and attends the 1st 2 8teen Junior Golf Academy with Anthony Moller and Neil Pierce. As a family, we’ve seen the promise he has shown for the sport, and our hope is to nurture that talent. We want him to keep trying sports he likes, but he always gravitates back towards golf,” he said.

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