Advancing his game
SLIPPERY ROCK — Jacob Wolak isn't all about golf. It's just that golf is all around him.
The 12-year-old Slippery Rock boy recently placed second at the Drive, Chip & Putt local competition hosted by Lone Pine Country Club in Washington County.
The top three golfers in each age group advance to Nemacolin Woodlands for subregional competition Aug. 3. The top two from there advance to one of 10 regionals nationwide in September.
Jacob competed in the 12-13 age group and was among a field of 20 golfers.
“I'm a little nervous about it,” Jacob said about the next step at Nemacolin. “I've been practicing a lot.”
Lone Pine was one of 268 local qualifiers spread throughout the 50 states. Jacob competed in the Drive, Chip & Putt event last year and finished fourth overall.
He was a first alternate for the next round, but did not advance.
“My goal this year was to get through and I did,” Jacob said.
His family lives next to the Oakview Golf Club. They are members there and Jacob estimates he plays golf “five or six days a week, if not every day.”
Jacob's mother, Diana, said he's been playing golf since age 4.
“My husband, Tom, plays all the time,” she said. “He's in a league at Oakview and he golfs with his buddies a couple of times a week.
“We're vacationing right now in Myrtle Beach, but it's not for the beach. It's for the golf.”
Jacob's older brother, 14-year-old Logan, won the chipping portion of his age group competition at Lone Pine and finished fifth overall. He is a second alternate for Nemacolin.
Ultimately, the top 80 overall Drive, Chip & Putt finishers will compete at Augusta National for the national title on April 1, 2018.
Drive, Chip & Putt is for boys ages 7-15 and is available in every state. Jacob won the driving portion of the event in his age group — hitting the ball approximately 220 yards — and took second in putting.
A drive off the tee had to wind up in play to be scored.
“I was very surprised I won the driving part,” Jacob said. “My irons and putting are the strongest part of my game. My chipping probably needs the most work.”
The Drive, Chip & Putt event is a joint initiative formed in 2013 by the Masters, USGA and PGA of America to enhance youth golf.
Jacob also competed on the local U.S. Kids Tour for the first time this year, placing second in events at Oak View and Lake Arthur.
