Detroit Free Press Jeff Seidel column
Feb 10, 2013 (Menafn - Detroit Free Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Kids today. They're just crazy, thinking outside the tee box. Way outside. Over on the edges. By the trees. In the deep rough.
They ask questions and refuse to follow the typical, normal routine of living tee to green.
Which brings us to Garrett Johnson, a teenager from Bloomfield Hills.
Johnson asked a question many golfers in Michigan have been asking for years: Uh, why the heck do I live in Michigan?
Why don't I go someplace warm where I can play year-round?
And then he hatched a brilliant plan. At least, it was brilliant for a kid who loves to golf and wants to get a golf scholarship.
Johnson asked his parents if he could attend high school in Hilton Head, S.C. But this is not a normal high school. He found a place that specializes in golf. The kids go to school in the morning, eat lunch and golf the rest of the day.
Did we mention that it's warm in South Carolina?
Like I said, kids today are brilliant!
And that is how he ended up at the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head.
Yes, that Hank Haney.
Tiger Woods' former instructor.
But we'll get to that in a second.
Culture shock
Now, it takes a special kid to want to embark on such a strange journey. Johnson is dedicated, focused, passionate and driven. But he had to leave friends and family and move out on his own before he was old enough to shave or drive.
"I don't know if I'd recommend it for everybody," said his mom, Diana Johnson. "Having him go, it was just too soon for me. He was only 14 or 15 at the time. It was like he was going away to college, and I don't know if I was emotionally ready for that. But he was so excited about it. It was hard to deny him that."
Johnson experienced a huge culture shock. One of his roommates was from Thailand, the other from Taiwan.
"I have definitely enjoyed it," said Garrett, now 17 and in his third year at the academy. "It's been a crazy experience."
A chance to be great
Doug Alexander is the director of instruction at the academy. He grew up in Toledo and suffered through the winter months like every other northern golfer who has thought about golfing in the snow.
Alexander only wishes he could have gone to a place like this as a kid. "I was a good player," said Alexander, who played professionally for 10 years. But if Alexander would have attended this type of academy and played year-round, he is convinced that "I would have been a great player."
And sure, that sounds like a sales pitch.
But it's also the thing that draws kids from across the Midwest and beyond. Way beyond. The academy has turned into a mini United Nations with 140 golfers from 32 countries. "We have everyone from beginners to kids who will be playing at Division I schools," Alexander said. "One is going to Notre Dame, another one is going to Texas A&M."
Alexander said Johnson is among the top-20 golfers at the academy. Johnson is long off the tee and has a solid, all-around game, but he is seeking consistency.
"He's a very good player," Alexander said. "As with most junior golfers, we are trying to get him to mature and get him into competition and to be able to shine when they get there."
At the academy, a year of tuition, boarding, golf tournaments and transportation can cost up to 60,000 depending what tournaments the kids play. Most play six or seven a semester. Johnson tries to maintain a measure of moderation, golfing in about five.
The academy was started in the 1990s, but Haney took it over five years ago. The famed instructor visits the school every six weeks and stays for about two or three days at a time. For the most part, he focuses on teaching instructors his method.
The first time Johnson hit a ball in front of Haney he was nervous. "I think I shanked four balls in a row," Johnson said.
But he has gotten over the awe of working with the man who worked with Tiger.
The other day, Haney noticed a problem with Johnson's grip. His hands were coming apart at impact, which created a series of problems. "It's pretty cool, the things he sees," Johnson said, "and the things he'll notice."
Now a family affair
After her older son left for college, Diana Johnson asked herself a question common for any empty nester: Why do I have to stay in Michigan during the winter?
So last year, she and her husband, Marty Johnson, bought a house on Hilton Head.
Now, Garrett lives with his mom during the school year -- Marty commutes to Hilton Head when he can -- and they all plan to return to Michigan to have the whole family together for the summer.
Want to know the funny part?
Garrett's dream is to get a scholarship to the University of Michigan. This kid who left to learn to play golf wants to come home for college.
Crazy kids. You try to figure them out.
Contact Jeff Seidel: 313-223-4558 or jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.
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