Lucas Kim Showing Maturity Beyond His Years

By Jenna Wasserman
Jenna.wasserman@cjga.com

One trip to the driving range is all it took for 13-year-old Lucas Kim to know he had found his passion.  At the young age of 5, Kim made his first trip to the range with his father, Scott, alongside but no one could have guessed that he would be hooked right from the beginning.  7 years later, the hard work and dedication has paid off as the young standout has already captured six CJGA division titles this season and was recently the youngest player to compete in Ontario Men’s Amateur.

Even as a beginner, Kim desperately craved getting onto the course.  “I asked my dad to get out there right after I realized how much fun the driving range was,” admits Kim.  Although Kim is no newbie to the sport, he started competing in tournaments only last year.

During the 2006 season, Kim started his CJGA career by playing in Junior Linkster events and even managed to place second in his first two tournaments.  Slowly, as the season progressed, Kim began competing in Junior Tour events as well, and was able to prove himself there, having numerous top 5 finishes and culminating with a victory t the 2006 Mizuno CJGA National Golf Championship in the Boys 13 & Under Division.

Kim, like many other juniors, made the transition between the two tours and found that the Junior Linkster Tour helped him develop as a player.  “The Junior Linkster Tour helps you before you get to the big groups of players and older ages of participants,” explains Kim.  “Through the Junior Linkster program it is easy to learn what you need to do on the course and how to act appropriately.”

According to Kim, his greatest achievement until now has come just recently, at the CJGA Ontario Junior Championship that took place at Diamondback, where he captured first place by an astonishing 31 strokes.  Another remarkable feat for Kim was his six win in a row hot streak that finally came to an end a few weeks ago after a disappointing final hole at the TaylorMade Adidas Invitational at The Club at BondHead.

One strong aspect of Kim’s game that is quite obvious to the casual observer is his strong mental game.  Even after a bad shot you will not find this young player losing his calm.  “I know a bad shot is just that, I can always recover in the next few holes.”  His advice to other juniors out there is simple, yet extremely mature for such a young age, “acting up will never help anything.”

Come September, Kim will be entering high school.  He plans on attending Silverthorn Collegiate Institute, a high school that boasts a strong golf team.  Here he will be part of a special program that the school offers for all athletes which allows them to leave early every afternoon in order to practice and improve their game.

Although golf is currently Kim’s sport of choice, during the off-season he enjoys other extra curricular activities such as snowboarding.

Kim has big goals for the future and for the rest of this season.  He hopes to take in a few more wins, in particular, he would like to duplicate his 2006 performance at the CJGA Mizuno National Championship.  The event will take place August 20th-23rd at National Pines, in Barrie, Ont.  Planning ahead to next season, Kim hopes to make the Top 40 in the Ontario Men’s Amateur.

At the current time Kim is focusing his practices on his short game in particular but still tries to go to the range almost daily to work on his driving.

With at least two more CJGA tournaments scheduled to compete in this season, Kim holds a strong chance of breaking last year’s record of most wins on tour by a male golfer.  Richard Jung, 14, of North York, Ont., currently holds the record earning 7 victories in the 2006 season.