Five-year-old golf wonder

Barbados’ youngest golfer Ashton O’Kola is only five years old and already he is making a name for himself as a special talent and one for the future.

Coached by the David Marshall Academy based at the Barbados Golf Club, O’Kola started the sport at age two after his mother Janeille Matthews said she was encouraged to let him play.

During an interview with Barbados TODAY, O’Kola, a pupil of St. Luke’s Academy in Whitehall, St. Peter, ably articulated the reasons why he loves and enjoys playing golf.

“Chipping the ball straight in the hole, and my coach and my friends that I play with,” O’Kola explained as the reasons he enjoys golf.

A huge Tiger Woods fan, the young O’Kola whose father Andrew O’Kola is his caddie noted that the reason he can master his technique so well is because of frequent practice.

During his performance at the 2021 State Farm Youth Classic in Bloomington, Illinois, O’Kola finished second and showed why he is one of the talented young golfers around.

He has also qualified for the IMG Junior World Championships in San Diego, California commencing Monday, July 12th, where he will be representing Barbados.O’Kola said he is hoping to do well.

Over the last three years O’Kola has featured in tournaments such as the 2019 Pepsi Little People’s Championship where he placed 9th and showed great improvement this year when he placed 2nd overall.

He also participated in Pepsi Little People’s Virtual Championship in 2020 during the lockdown since participants were unable to travel. Participants were allowed to play on their home course and report the results as O’Kola came in 6th in the tournament. Also, in 2020 O’Kola was outstanding in the David Marshall Academy THREE, SIX, NINE Exhibition Tournament winning the 6-hole Under-10 competition

Coach Marshall who is a United States Golf Certified Instructor and is part of the World Golf Teachers Federation has been working with children O’Kola’s age for a long time.

He explained that O’Kola was energetic like most children his age but Marshall pointed out that what makes him so exceptional is the fact he likes to compete and learn new things.

“Ashton is like all children his age. He is energetic and what makes him unique is that he likes the skills and thrills that he gets from golf. He likes to try new things and compete, he is very competitive,” Marshall said.

As he explained the process of getting a child O’Kola’s age to concentrate on the game, Marshall stated: “You have to find out what they like first and if they like ball games it is to your advantage. Each child is different and Ashton has developed a lot. He is maturing, he understands because golf is different from other sports.

“At first he did not understand the scoring process because he thought that once he got the ball in the hole first he was the winner. Now he understands that it is the lowest score (that wins). He understands one and one competition, scoring a goal. But when it comes to golf it is the lowest score and it takes a child that age to understand the concept but he is getting there.”

Marshall sees a bright future for O’Kola and he is hoping that Barbados continues to expand its reach to get more young people like Marshall playing the sport.

“We need to do more, much more. We have to expand our reach. It is too narrow and we need to have world-class golfers out there. Golf being an exclusive sport, that has to change in order to tap into the talent out there, and then the island will produce top golfers. I am confident about that,” Marshall said.

He encouraged parents to get their children involved in the sport from a young age and used O’Kola as a perfect example.

“It is a good age to start.The parent has to make the sacrifice to bring the child. But the rewards are long-term and once the child shows interest in the sport, it is a good sport, it is a disciplined sport. I would encourage any parent to at least expose the child to it and get feedback from the coaches, than to just say it is out there and you don’t know how to get in contact. We are trying to make it more accessible to all the schools and children on the island,” Marshall explained.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb