Ask nine-year-old Karl Vilips if he thinks he’ll be famous one day, and he barely waits for the question mark. “I already am,” says Karl. And, to an extent, he’s correct.
The Melbourne-based Year 4 student is already a world champion golfer, a winner of 23 tournaments at home and for in the United States.
When he won the US Kids World Championship he was seven and he has shot a hole-in-one in tournament play.
But for the little boy who thinks big, his most remarkable performance on the golf course came this month on the Melbourne sandbelt when he became the youngest player to compete in a Golf Victoria pennant match.
Playing for Southern Golf Club, Karl led off in the Colts pennant, an inter-club competition for under-21s, against a 19-year-old opponent – and he halved the match.
“I was a bit nervous because there were a lot of people watching,” Karl said.
“On the first tee I was smiling a bit, but I was OK after that.”
Despite the small bout of nerves, Karl smacked his drive 180m down the middle, put his second on the green and two putted.
What he forgot to say was that after he three putted the 17th to allow his opponent to take a one hole lead going to the 18th, he did what little kids are supposed to do. He cried.
But the tears stopped quickly enough to allow him to win the final hole and square the match.
“I suppose it was a good day,” he said.
“But we didn’t play off the very back markers.”
Karl plays again for Southern in the final round of pennant competition at Commonwealth Golf Club on Sunday, and it will be an experienced golfer who steps onto the first tee.
“I’m not scared or anything, I think it should be fun,” he said.
Which is one of the biggest concerns for Karl’s father Paul Vilips.
The goal is for Karl to win a US college scholarship and see how it goes from there.
In the meantime, his father, who has brought Karl up alone since he was a year old, is trying to balance school, golf and all the other things a nine-year-old does.
“It all started because golf was something we could do together,” Mr Vilips said.
“Now it has developed into something pretty special that we hope can lead to Karl having a good life.”
Along the way Mr Vilips has introduced Karl to other sports and worked at developing his understanding of the importance of education.
“There are times when I don’t let him play,” he said.
“If I think he’s getting a bit obsessed, I give him a break.”
That might not be too difficult during a Melbourne winter – but Karl and his Dad are off to America in the next few weeks.
They have tournaments to win.
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