For love of the game

BY SPENCER CAMPBELL
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – Before the beginning of any session, the First Tee of Tri-Cities head instructor Mike Freels observes his pupils and makes a few early evaluations.

He needed only one word to describe eight-year-old Randy Izzo’s ability: awesome.

Izzo has been proving Freels’ judgment right ever since.

Although he’s only been playing seriously since April, Izzo is one of the top under-10 golfers in the state, as evidenced by his ninth-place finish in late July at the Tennessee Golf Association Junior Tour’s Toyota Aspen Grove Challenge at the Little Course at Connor Lake in Franklin, Tenn.

Izzo’s overall tournament record parallels that of his favorite player, Tiger Woods. In six TGA Junior Tour events, Izzo grabbed two wins, two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes.

Also like Tiger, Izzo was introduced to golf by a male role model. Although, while Tiger took to the course with his father, Earl Woods, it was Izzo’s grandfather and namesake, Randy Warren, who first led him to golf.

“I love golf,” Warren said. “I give golf lessons, so I thought it would be good for him, with the discipline it teaches. I wasn’t sure how good he would be, he was only swinging plastic clubs before, but then he took to it really well.”

Izzo’s passion for the game is obvious. After getting his picture taken on the first tee at Tri-Cities Golf Club, Izzo keeps at his grandfather’s knee, silently pleading for another ball to hit.

When he’s finally tossed one, the tiny eight-year-old takes a huge, John Daly-esque backswing, before bombing his drive almost 200 yards, although slightly right of the fairway.

He then moves over to the putting green, where he was beating Warren, a three handicap, 2-1, in a chipping contest.

“He loves practicing,” Warren said. “What’s really funny is when he plays golf, he’s all business. He can separate the two. Because when he’s off the course, he’s a regular eight-year-old kid.”

All that practice has paid off for Izzo, and in a very short time.

Thanks to his involvement with the First Tee of Tri-Cities, both Freels and TGA regional director Chad Anderson helped him evolve as a golfer and plot his tournament course this summer. And some local businesses, Sweet Stix Golf and WC Forklift, helped pay his way into the events.

Izzo has yet to beat his grandfather during a round of golf – though Warren says that will be the “happiest day of my life” – but he has broken 80 at Steele Creek Park, and recently carded an 83 at Clear Creek Golf Club.

The future, Warren said, has Izzo winning championships at Tennessee High and then landing a golf scholarship somewhere.

Beyond that, well…

“I’d like to see him make it all the way to the PGA. If he’s good enough to make cuts, he’ll make a good living,” Warren said, before watching his grandson nail another drive. “I think he’ll be good enough.”

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