Loucas Couture might not be able to bomb it off the tees with Sudbury's best golfers - but bring the whole gang around to perhaps 15 yards or so off the greens and then watch the talented 11 year-old work his magic.
Last month, with only three shots to work with from just off the green, Couture holed one and plunked a pair to within two feet of the hole, amassing 65 points in the process (no other competitor in his age bracket scored more than 45 points) to capture first place in the second round of the Drive, Chip & Putt Sub-Regional Qualifier in Belmont (Michigan), just outside of Grand Rapids.
This after struggling mightily with his drives on this particular day.
"I was like: I'm done," said Couture, taking a break recently from his practice session at the Idylwylde Golf & Country Club. "I'm just done. I have nothing to lose."
In the end, Couture would finish 15 points clear of Petoskey (MI) native Wyatt Marshall and the balance of the 16-golfer U10-11 grouping, advancing to the Regionals at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky this coming weekend.
In order to reach this stage, first topped a nine-player bracket in Boyne (Michigan) in late June, his putting bailing him out with a 55-point performance (max is 75 points on all three rounds). Couture recorded a grand total of 112 points, once again besting Wyatt Marshall who posted a total aggregate score of 104.
"My chipping and my bunker play - those are the best parts of my game," noted the talkative grade six student at R.L. Beattie Public School who doubles as a goaltender come hockey season.
"I like to do a bump and run, take my five iron or my hybrid and hit it almost like a putter stroke. Or if you get enough height on it, you can land your chip five feet short of the pin and let it roll up."
To be sure, five minutes into a conversation with the super friendly lad, you realize that he is absolutely immersed with golf.
"I hit it well with my 56 degree, a wedge with more loft - but the putting is tough for everybody," said Couture, with all participants taking their shot at the hole from six feet, fifteen feet and thirty feet away (in the putting phase).
Dealing with the undulating putting challenges of the Idylwylde has seemingly prepared the Sudbury talent well for this event. In Kentucky, Couture is pitted against 11 other qualifiers - two from each of the six sub-regionals in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana.
The winner of this 12-pack will earn themselves an appearance at Augusta National Golf Club on the Sunday that precedes the Masters.
Where his first two stops in Michigan were more or less day trips, Couture and his father (Frank) are making the most of the setting in Valhalla (site of the 2024 PGA Championship), spending a few days in Louisville and getting a round of golf in at one of the other courses in the area.
