The Wall Street Journal has called Josh Martin, an eleven year-old with a “butter-smooth swing” that he can repeat exactly every stroke, “the best golfer in the world at his age.”
This summer young Martiin, a fair-haired, skinny kid, is averaging 69.9 strokes every round he plays at the tough Pinehurst course, which is 5,614 yards long.
Professional courses are 7000/7500 long.
His lowest round is 62. And in the past four years, Martin has won nearly every major junior golf tournament he has entered.
This statistic reveals the real story behind the Josh Martin story.
His father, Bowie Martin, is determined to ensure that his sons (older brother Zach 13 is also an excellent golfer) have the chance to become golf greats. So both boys have been subjected to an intense coaching, tutoring and playing regime that is intended to make them champion players.
Josh has responded better than Zach to the seemingly brutal golf regime regime imposed by their father. Zach has already dropped out twice. But he is apparently back on the golf treadmill.
I’ve seen clips of Tiger Woods on the Bob Hope show beating the star at a putting competition. Tiger was about four years old at the time the TV show was filmed. He is a case of a prodigy, coached and mentored relentlessly by his father, who has achieved greatness.
There are few other cases in golf where this sort of success has followed a single-minded determination by a parent to force a child into sporting stardom.
And when the occasional force-fed athlete actually makes it into the big-time, they often have very short careers. The example of a number of young female tennis stars come to mind.
In about ten years time we’ll know if Josh Martin is going to fulfill his father’s ambitions.
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