He can putt, he can swing and he’s just under three feet tall.
Owen Kopinski, 23 months, isn’t speaking too much yet but he does know how to say “golf ball,” and can already hit a hole-in-one from several yards away.
Owen borrowed his dad’s golf club just last fall and hasn’t put it down.
“I was hitting in the backyard and he grabbed my club...he’s been putting and hitting ever since,” his dad Keith Kopinski told TODAY Sunday.
Initially, Kopinski didn't think much of Owen's new hobby, but when he took the talented tot to the PGA Tour Superstore, the pros there were impressed with the boy's swing.
The toddler kept his focus while on TODAY, putting throughout the interview while being watched over by his grandfather.
Tiger Woods, like Owen, was introduced to golf by his athletic father before he was 2 years old. Kopinski acknowledged that some experts say children shouldn't start training until at least 7 years old because young kids don’t have the cognitive skills for it until they are older, and early training could damage their wrists. For now, it’s just fun, and he says he's just encouraging Owen without putting and pressure on him.
“It’s playtime,” said Kopinski. “When he saw the green out here he wants a club right away...he’ll sit out here all day.”
Owen can make a hole-in-one from a number of distances, and his dad says he has a good perception of how hard to hit it. He can sink almost every shot from over 10 yards away. Owen’s swing is even making his dad a little jealous. Kopinski told TODAY that he wishes he had his young son’s swing. “I like the way he turns,” he said.
Owen’s mom wasn’t able to join in on the TODAY visit because she’s at home pregnant and due next week.
“Maybe another golfer coming?” TODAY’s Erica Hill mused.