Travis Winn has had more success in sports than most people have
in their entire athletic careers. And he’s only ten-years-old.
By Greg Chapman Staff Writer
Travis Winn has had more success in sports than most people have in their entire athletic careers. And he’s only ten-years-old.
A winner in every sense of the word, the Hollister prodigy’s accomplishments have a lot to do with his attitude and approach towards playing golf. Standing all of four feet and seven inches, Travis has won 89 trophies and has an official handicap index of 6.8. An incredible accomplishment for someone his age.
“It mainly is his attitude.” said Joey Stockton, former Assistant Professional at Salinas Golf and County Club. “If I had a kid, that’s exactly how I would want my kid to act. Not only as a golfer, but as an individual person.”
Stockton helped Travis with his short and long game on a couple of occasions last year, and noted how the boy wasn’t like most kids his age. Travis not only had an attention span longer than the typical five to 10 minutes, but also didn’t just grab a club and try to smack the ball as far as he could. He took his time approaching the ball.
Initially a skeptic, Stockton recalls how shocked he was during their first time on the driving range.
“We went out to the range and oh, my God! It was no hit and miss.”
Travis got into golf when he was four and a half years old. Following his father and older brother to the links, Travis immediately fell in love with the sport. After playing well at a young age, he realized he had the talent to do well.
“If you feel like you’re good at the sport, have confidence and you’ll do well,” Travis said.
Just shy of his fifth birthday, a fire sparked inside of Travis following his first tournament. He came in fourth and only the top three participants received awards.
“He didn’t like that feeling of losing games,” said Mike Winn, Travis’ dad.
The early defeat did not deter Travis though. Instead, it made him want to practice and play more.
Losing has been a rare occurrence since.
Travis’ motto is simple, “Keep practicing, get used to the game and then you’ll improve.”
Susan Mazzei, Vice President of the Santa Cruz County Golf Association, chuckled when talking about Travis’ improvement on the golf course because he is a little guy.
“Other kids see him, and he’s pretty small,” Mazzei said. “They’re not expecting much and he winds up being pretty good. I think the other kids were pretty amazed at what he could do.”
Mazzei, who has been the association’s tournament director for the last two years, said it has been interesting watching a kid so young do so well. Travis joined the association when he was seven, a year before most are usually allowed. Starting at the Green Card level, which is where most kids his age begin, Travis has already moved up two divisions in as many years. Travis is now listed in the Silver division, which is the second highest.
Mazzei said it is inspiring to watch because most of the kids Travis is playing against are competing for their high school teams.
On June 14, in one of Santa Cruz County’s 10 annual tournaments, Travis competed against three high school kids in his division. He ended up posting an 86 to beat the field by four strokes.
As for role models, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are the two golfers that catch Travis’ attention the most. He hopes to be in their position one day.
“It would just feel great, because it’s so hard to get there,” Travis said. “You have to go through a lot of (instruction).”
During his sessions with Stockton, the two would often go beyond the normal 40-45 minute session because Travis was so easy to teach. The pupil would always listen, and more importantly, understand what was being taught.
“He’s always trying to learn and improve,” Stockton said.
At only ten-years-old, it’s a safe bet that Travis still has time to work on his game.
