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A group of Chinese boys took part in junior golf games abroad. [Photo/China Daily] |
That was a hot summer day in 2007, two years after the father and mother started playing golf. After a game, the wife felt uncomfortable, and was found to be pregnant when they went to the hospital.
"At that time, it just occurred to me that if the baby was to be a boy, he probably would love playing golf," Zhu Zhizhen says.
And it was indeed a boy.
When he was as young as 11 months old, Zhu He got his first plastic golf club toy, and would drag and swing the club as he toddled around.
To celebrate his first birthday, the family practiced the tradition of "Zhua Zhou", a game played on a child's first birthday to determine his or her future.
Zhu He grabbed the money first and then a golf ball, which was a good sign for the father to decide to teach the toddler how to play golf.
The child was too small to go on a professional course, so their home became his training ground.
To start with, their living room of about 30 square meters was turned into a mini-golf course and the father used toys and household items to mimic a professional course. The child was able to learn and practice all the golf movements.
Zhu Zhizhen would play with the child together, and often encouraged the son to hit on colorful toys and fruits with his golf club, as if they were golf balls, so that the child would not lose interest after practicing repetitively.
During Spring Festivals, hongbao, or red envelopes containing money, were hung in the miniature course. Those hongbao that he managed to hit with a golf ball were his.
Zhu He also likes to hear about the legends of famous golfers, such as how Tiger Woods hit a hole-in-one when he was 6-years-old. Seeking out new golf devices on the market was also another way to keep him engaged.
Zhu He went on a professional course to train before he was 3, and at the age of 4, he started to take part in games.
At that time, golf games or events for teenagers and younger children were quite rare. Even today, there are fewer than 10 widely-recognized events a year in China, the father says.
In his first game, the boy was distracted by the golf carts and scrambled up one.
For his second game, when he was nearly 5, Zhu He finished all the 36 holes in two days.
Since then, the father has always been searching for golf events that Zhu He can participate in, whether in Beijing or elsewhere.
Over the years, they have been to many places. The events fueled Zhu He's passion for golf, and somehow he started to care about his scores.
However, domestic golf games do not have different categories for children under 9-years-old, and Zhu He has to compete against children much older than him, which disadvantages him.
Since 2013, the father managed to take Zhu He to the United States to take part in a series of golf games, because the age categories are wider, and there is a category for children under 6.
Zhu He won his first trophy during his first visit to the United States in June 2013. He also hit his first hole-in-one in a pre-game last year in the US.
