WORDS Bernadette Zebec

At just fifteen years of age, rising golfer Danny An is already playing with the big boys.

Danny An’s passion for golf began while following his father around the local course. Now it’s his father who follows him around as the young golf star chases his dreams of being a professional golfer.

Danny says his father was the one who inspired him to take up golf in the first place. He hit his first golf ball at the age of seven.

‘When he was a child he would pick up my clubs and use a towel to polish them’, Mr An says. ‘Golf was the only thing he’d ever watch on television. His eyes would be glued to the screen when a tournament aired. He could recall the names of every single player.’

Mr An now caddies for Danny as he competes in major Australian junior tournaments. ‘I’m very fortunate to have the understanding of parents who encourage and support me’, says Danny. ‘My mum, even my grandmother in Korea, go to church every week and pray for me.’

Admittedly, the De La Salle College, Ashfield student has little time to spare for church and his studies.

‘My academic life does suffer. My teachers are constantly chasing me in the school corridors telling me what I need to catch up with’, he says.

‘At the moment though, I’m just practising hard to turn professional. I’d like to be able to match Tiger Woods’ record and rank number one in the world by the time I’m 21!’

Tiger Woods is Danny’s role model.

‘I look up to him because he studied golf when he was younger too’, Danny says. ‘Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be competing with him.’

Danny, of course, is not a typical student. The determined teen trains seven days a week, six hours a day, and up to 12 hours on the weekends.

He began competing at eight (earning his first trophy in a Seoul school’s golf tournament) and has played in over 100 junior tournaments over the past nine years.

‘I play a tournament almost every month’, he says. ‘I’ve lost count!’

He has a swag of medals and trophies to prove it. His home in the Sydney suburb of Ashfield is littered with his prizes from over half of those events. Yet despite his many wins, he is yet to receive a single cent in prize money. There are no cash prizes in amateur tournaments.

Surprisingly, the Korean-born teenager’s biggest achievement so far doesn’t include a tournament win.

‘The Aaron Baddeley International Junior Championships in China last year was my best ever competition’, he says. ‘It was the first world event I’ve ever played in and I finished equal fifth overall.’

Danny made headlines last year for being, at the age of 14, the youngest ever competitor in the history of the Australian Open. By playing in the Open, Danny added his name to an illustrious list of elite professionals—Wayne Grady, Greg Norman, Stuart Appleby, Adam Scott and many more. He even recorded identical scores to Norman after two rounds and met the five-time champion in the last round.

The last day of the Open was made all the more memorable as Danny celebrated turning 15 and went on to match his best round with 73 and close one-over-par to finish equal 51st.

Danny’s coach Ken Trimble said it was ‘a real buzz’ to watch the young kid he helped nurture play with some of the best players in the country.

Ken, who has been coaching Danny from the age of nine when he first arrived in Australia, says Danny has the potential to be a world class player.

‘He’s already proven that with his recent performance at the Australian Open’, he said. ‘Even Wayne Grady was very complimentary of Danny’s attitude and game after playing him in the third round.’

Ken, who is now retired to the Concord pro shop after touring the Australasian and European circuits for 10 years, says he doesn’t want to push the youngster too quickly.

‘While he’s certainly among the best handful of players in the country in his age group, any young fellow with that amount of talent should be trying to play as much representative golf as he possibly can.

‘If he keeps improving at the rate he is, and is allowed to fulfill his potential without any pressures, he will certainly have the potential to join the US PGA Tour.’

Danny does hope to one day join the US PGA. He plans to bide his time by playing as many high-profile amateur events as he can until he is eligible at 18 to take the men’s Q-school test to qualify. This month he has his sights set on winning the 2007 Mastercard Junior Masters in Perth. Last month, he was only five strokes shy of winning the Australian Boys Amateur Championships from 17-year-old Jason Scrivener.

‘I’m just going to keep playing my best’, says Danny. ‘If I don’t win, it’s not important. I just like playing golf. It’s fun and it feels good when I play my best.’

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