Ryan Slater, 10, warms up on the driving range at Eagle Ridge Golf Course on Wednesday. He is preparing for three upcoming tournaments; the Junior Master World Golf Tournament, Callaway Junior World and the U.S. Kids World Golf Championship.
Ryan Slater doesn't want to be Tiger Woods; he wants to beat Tiger Woods.
The same could be said for just about every other pro on the PGA Tour.
But for Slater, playing on the PGA Tour is still a long ways off. At just 10-years-old, the soon to be sixth-grader from Gilroy is currently in San Diego making the amateur golf circuit rounds. He will be taking part today and tomorrow in the 9- and 10-year-old division of the San Diego Junior Masters, a first-year tournament being held at Carlton Oaks Golf Course. After shooting a 6-over 78 in his final practice round Monday, the diminutive duffer was confident he could put himself in a position to win the tournament, with the hope being that any success carries over to the following week's prestigious Callaway Junior World Golf Championships being held July 15-18.
"I expect to be in the top 15," Slater said of this week's warm-up event. "If I play like I did (Monday), I'll be in the top 15. Maybe even better. Maybe in the top 10."
Spending numerous summer hours on the driving range and putting greens, while also working in a few rounds each week, Slater has the drive to be successful in amateur events that have featured many of the best current and former pros. Past winners of the Junior Worlds include names such as Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, known simply as Eldrick at the time.
Later this summer, Slater will be playing in the U.S. Kids World Golf Championships being held at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. He will also be representing Northern California in a Ryder Cup-style event being held in Canada in August. Some of these tournament are already old hat for him. Slater has played in amateur event across North America since he was six-years-old, with his highest finish, 15th, coming at the U.S. Kids in 2005.
Getting to the point of winning such events will take steady improvement, but it doesn't seem like that is an issue for the well-spoken Slater. After taking time off from the game a year ago, which resulted in missing the U.S. Kids World Golf qualifying cut by a stroke, he has rededicated himself.
"We moved into our new house so it was kind of big and empty and it was really fun, so my mind wasn't really on golf," he said.
That has changed, but by no one's decision but his own.
"There's a lot of parents, as in any sport, but there's a lot of parents (in golf) who push their kids and say, 'you have to go practice,' and we're not like that," said Sandy Slater, Ryan's mom. "Ultimately, it should be about what the kid wants to be doing. It was his decision to start practicing this year."
In fact, Slater prefers to practice over playing most times.
"I think I'd rather do that then go and play nine holes, just because I love to practice," he said.
Born into a golf family that became involved in the sport starting with his great-grandparents, Slater picked up his first club before he was two-years-old. Months later he was taking hacks on the driving range. He began hitting the links at the age of five.
It's not surprising then that Slater has developed quite a bit of touch considering a club was one of the first toys he came into contact with.
"The strength of my game is the short game, mostly putting," he said. "I don't hit very far and most of the kids hit it past me, so I make up for the yardage that I lose (off the tee) by making up strokes on the short game."
While his game and stature may be short, his dreams seem to know no bounds.
"My goal is to be a professional golfer and I want to win the Masters by 23 or younger," Slater said. "And I also want to beat Tiger in a playoff."
It sounds like Slater is already thinking like a pro.
Josh Koehn Josh Koehn is the sports editor of the Gilroy Dispatch.
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