Kennedy Student Competes at National Golf Tournament
6-year-old Thomas Constantine will compete at the US Kids Golf Tournament against hundreds of other young golfers.
Photo by Anne Parker
You're never too young for greatness. This is true in the case of Franklin's Thomas Constantine. The first grader from Kennedy Elementary School is a young and talented golfer. He has shown a great ability to play golf since he was 3 years old.
Last month at age 6, he won the Boston Local Tour Championship held by US Kids Golf at a Tournament in Gardner. He beat out the competition in the 6-and-under age bracket. Thomas has earned an invitation to compete at the international level in July. At the end of this month he will take his game to North Carolina to the World Championships of the US Kids Golf Tour. There he will play against hundreds of other kids from around the world.
Hosted at Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina, the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship is the largest and most prestigious event in the world for players 12 and under. Annually, more than 1,400 kids from many countries come together to compete for the championship.
Thomas turned 7 since his win in Gardner and will play up in the age 7 bracket. He's feeling a little nervous, he said. But he is ready. In his competition last month, he played 9 holes and finished with a score of 38, with par being 36.
Thomas first became interested in golf at a young age. "We bought him plastic golf clubs when he was 3. He would just hit the ball around," his father Rob Constantine, explained. Rob said they watched "The Short Game," a Netflix documentary which chronicles a group of kids that went to Pinehurst for the 2012 championship. "Thomas started watching it. It became his goal to get to that," he said. "He'll sit and watch golf and learn instead of a cartoon. He'd rather watch the golf channel or MLB channel."
Then Thomas's grandfather started sharing his love for the sport with him. "A big driving force is my father in law. He's retired and a golf addict," smiled Rob. "So he found his little partner. Thomas is extremely coachable and has great hand-eye coordination. It translates very well into golf and baseball." Thomas enjoys baseball, soccer and basketball. He'll play any sport but golf is his favorite.
Not only is his grandfather his golf partner, but he is Thomas's caddy. “It can be difficult to not be caddying,” says his father, “but my wife and I have realized that Thomas is thriving and loving the game the way it is being presented to him by Ed and Coach George so we made the decision to continue it. Besides, Thomas already knows more than me about golf!”
Thomas really started getting noticed at Olde Scotland Links where he played with his grandfather, Ed Thomas from Uxbridge. The two would play together at the driving range and on the course. "I take him on a golf course and people would stop and say they can't believe it," reports Ed.
"I am his caddy when he goes to these tournaments. There's no competition. We talk about everything in the world. Not win-lose. That never comes up." Thomas is at the age where he doesn’t believe anything Dad says is right when it comes to golf. Dad can say “I think you should use your 9-iron” and get a “NO” but Ed says “use a 9-iron” and gets an “OK”.
"A coach from the course actually saw Thomas on the range hitting when he was 3," he explained. "He basically said to me I've been a coach here for 35 years and he's got some extraordinary talent."
A few years ago Thomas's grandfather met George Pimental, the instructor at Olde Scotland Links, who also coaches at Bridgewater-Raynham high school. At the time, Thomas was 3. "I thought that's kind of young. But I did it anyway and that's how he got started," said Pimental. Since then he's become his coach.
"Everyone who sees him hit a golf ball is so impressed. He's very competitive. He's also a nice young man," Pimental said. He also does junior clinics for older players. He told his grandfather bring him to play with the 9-11 year olds. The junior clinics eventually led him to the US Kids Golf. "His scores are very impressive," added Pimental. "He's one of the top golfers for his age group. He's phenomenal for the place he's at right now."
The 7-year-old Thomas really loves the game. He practices 3-4 times a week, he said. He is also a member at Maplegate Country Club in Bellingham. He felt great when he won the US Kids Spring Championship. His favorite part of golf is driving. He just loves the feeling of hitting the ball far. He said he has hit as far as 178 yards. He weighs all of 46 pounds!
The most important thing about golf is having fun, says the young man who hopes to be a pro golfer some day. When asked whether golf takes skill or luck, he replied "Skill." He will carry that skill with him as he moves on to The World Championships in Pinehurst, NC in July.
Franklin News, July 2015
