Nine-year-old Seal Beach resident, Carson Cox is already a more seasoned golfer than many weekend duffers who regularly hit the links. Carson began taking golf lessons at the age of four. His parents figured they might as well get him some professional instruction since he was already showing an aptitude for the game.
His father Trey had taught him to swing a club when he was a toddler and by age 2 ½ he had already played his first round of golf. Carson is also a pretty good baseball and soccer player, but golf seems to be in his DNA. Maybe literally, his great grandfather used to play in the LA Open at Palos Verdes back in the day. It’s the challenges of golf that have made it Carson’s favorite of the sports he plays.
“I like how sometimes you shoot like a bad score but then the next day you come out and shoot like the best score of your life,” Carson said.
So, it probably wasn’t a total surprise when Carson started winning tournaments on the Orange County Tour of the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation. He began to finish at, or near the top, of the season point standings each season. This year, Carson qualified for the U.S. Kids Golf World Championships at famed Pinehurst Golf Course in North Carolina.
The U.S. Kids Golf Tour starts kids with nine-hole tournaments, and most events are nine-hole events. But as they advance, the tournaments get bigger, some going a full 18 holes and now even two days of 18 holes each. The World Championships will be a three-day event with players in the age 9 division playing 18 holes each day.
“So, this is a big step up,” Donna Cox, Carson’s mom said.
Carson said he likes baseball and soccer, but golf is definitely his favorite. With baseball and soccer, he wins or loses as part of the team. For the most part golf tournaments are individual events and that seems to motivate him to be as good as he can be.
“I think it’s made him more of a self starter,” Trey Cox, Carson’s father said. “I think being an individual sport, he reflects on it more … he takes it more personal.”
Trey said that if Carson has a bad tournament, he’s anxious to get out to the driving range to work on the shots he struggled with that day. Carson said he feels like putting is his most consistent part of the game, but the shot he likes most, when he executes it correctly, is a flop shot. That is a short wedge that a player tries to loft high to the green so that the ball stops close to where it lands. His dedication to developing his game is something his mother said she sees as a positive in his life.
“For me, it’s his focus, I think it’s something that not every kid can do, it takes a lot of patience, a lot of focus, dedication, he’s out there in between sports and in between school and homework, working on one of his skills,” Donna said.
Most of the events Carson played this season were nine-hole events and his two lowest scores were 38 and 35, for a total of 73 which qualified him for the World Championship by one stroke. In the past four years he has finished the season as the points leader twice and was second the other two seasons. And his best score on an 18-hole course was an even-par 72 at Indian Wells Players Course, which any golfer will tell you, is no easy feat.
“Yeah, I was pretty proud of that,” Carson said, with a smile.
For now, he prepares for the World Championships, which start on Aug. 1. It will be a daunting task for even the most experienced golfer. But of all the things Carson has learned about golf, he said the thing he feels is most important is his attitude. Good shots will come and bad shots will happen, but maintaining an even keel emotionally will keep him on track.
“So attitude can really put you in a bad position … but [a good] attitude can also help you win,” Carson said.
The World Championships are just that, a world event. Players from all over the world will be there to compete and the event includes a parade of nations to kick off the tournament, like the Olympic opening ceremonies. And Carson is already determined to enjoy himself no matter the outcome.
“I’m excited, and I don’t really care if I do bad because I just want to experience this,” Carson said.