Tristan Martel is 11 years old and already plays at the Club du Moulin de Trois-Rivières with very experienced golfers when it is only his first year of play.
The young boy has been training almost every day for a year. His parents will drop him off very early in the morning and return to pick him up in the evening. He has already participated in 7 tournaments, including provincial and interregional ones, as well as one in Ontario.
His record: a card of 78 strokes on an 18-hole course when he has never taken a course. “I watched videos. They gave me advice, the pros here. I also looked at the rules when I started playing and then I did tournaments,” explained Tristan.
“He gets up in the morning at 6 a.m., the dad takes him. […] We play an 18 [trous]. He calls back sometimes and he says, ”ah mama, I’m going to hit a basket, two baskets [de balles]”. He eats it, it’s not complicated!” exclaimed his mother, Marie-Claude Brière.
“His performance is improving day by day it seems. He practices a lot, but what’s really amazing is his attitude. At first we were hesitant, but now we can make him play with anyone. All the members who are here only give good comments,” said the general manager of the Club de Golf du Moulin, Steve Landry.
The most experienced players recognize Tristan, having seen him play all summer. Some even have anecdotes to tell about him as the young boy sometimes gives tips to the older ones.
We were three adults. He played with us and no inconvenience. Super nice. He’s going to be better than me later,” said a member with whom Tristan has already played with a sneer.
“He knew his ground, he knew the greens. A pretty smart little boy with the ball, who hits it very, very well. We learned a good lesson, we were three seniors,” added another experienced golfer.
Tristan’s dream is to become a great professional golf champion, ideally with the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA Tour). He intends to continue in sports-studies in high school next year, golf profile.
