Age, like par, is just a number.
That’s what people say, but it’s not true.
In golf, anyway, age matters plenty.
Just ask any member of the over-50 circuit, or the studs who peg it in the U.S. Mid-Am, which enforces an age minimum of 25.
Better yet, get a fresh perspective from Pierson Huyck, one of 264 players who’s in the mix this week at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, at Bandon Dunes.
The event is reserved for golfers 18 and under.
Pierson meets that cut off by a mile.
He just turned 12, the youngest competitor in the 74-year history of the championship.
“I’m excited,” he says. “It’s a lot of fun trying to beat older kids.”
A soon-to-be sixth grader from Arizona, Pierson took up golf when he was four. Before that, his sport was tennis. But one afternoon, at Phoenix Country Club, where his family belongs, he set down his racket and slipped over to the range. Before long, he was smoothing shots. His swing came naturally. No one has meddled with it since.
“I don’t really take lessons or tips,” Pierson says. “I just try to teach myself from the mistakes I make with my swing.”
His ease with the game makes him different from his mother, Erika, and his older sister, Skylar, neither of whom plays. It also sets him apart from his father, Greg, a financial analyst who, like many golfers, has tried to improve at golf for years but has yet to crack the code.
“As someone who has worked hard to get better, one of the things that strikes me about Pierson is that he’s the epitome of a feel player,” Greg says. “Over the years, coaches and more mechanical players have tried to talk to him about the kinetic motion of the downswing or this or that. He just chuckles and goes back to what he’s doing.”
“I just like how relaxed and cool he is,” he says.
What Pierson does isn’t just golf. He has a robust collection of remote-control cars. On weekends, he rides dirt bikes, a favorite hobby that he shares with his favorite Tour pro, Rickie Fowler. The two have never met. Pierson hopes that changes.
On the course, Pierson strives for a similar demeanor. It helps that he is seasoned beyond his years. In 2021, he competed the Drive, Chip & Putt Finals, at Augusta National, one of many highlights of a junior career that began early in grade school on the U.S. Kids Golf circuit. In those events, his dad served as his caddie while working hard to keep a healthy distance. Nearly four years ago, Greg stopped joining Pierson on the greens, leaving his son to read his own chips and putts.
“It had come to that point where it was important for him to start taking more ownership of his game,” Greg says.
