Soyez quietly holds world title in ‘Drive, Pitch & Putt’

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
It’s amazing what you can learn on the Internet.

Elliot Soyez, a fifth-grader at Hillsboro Elementary School, learned about five months ago that he was the world champion among boys ages 8 through 10 participating in the Kids Golf “Drive, Pitch & Putt” competition in 2001.

That’s right. World champion.

Soyez, 11, competed at the Hillsboro Kids Golf competition last summer. Local scores were sent on to the parent organization, who then posts the highest finishers from around the world on the Internet.

Elliot said he didn’t find out about his accomplishment until he happened to call up the site one day.

“I was pretty happy, I was surprised,” he said about the discovery.

Elliot accumulated 711 points, beating his nearest contender, a boy from Sweden, by 37 points. The points are figured according to a formula involving accuracy and distance for a drive, a pitch and a putt.

Elliot sank his pitch shot for a score of 360, added 171 points for his drive and 180 points for his putt.

“After I knew my score, (local organizer Scott O’Hare) said it would probably take second or first or third in the nation, so I thought I would have a good chance.

“I didn’t hit my driver the best, so I thought I wouldn’t be up at No. 1,” he added.

This accomplishment is only the latest in Elliot’s quest to fulfill his ultimate dream.

“I’ve always wanted to go pro in golf,” he said. “I thought that would be cool.”

He started playing golf six years ago when the rest of his family-father Bill, mother Gayla, and younger sister Samantha-picked up the game as an activity to do together.

“It was kind of fun,” Elliot said of his first experiences on the links. “I liked hitting the ball a lot. It was fun if you hit it straight. It was really nice.”

Elliot said he plays almost every day now, year round. When the weather is bad, he’ll hit whiffle or foam balls in a gym near his home between Florence and Cedar Point. The Soyez family also has a driving range at home.

He and his family play the courses in Hillsboro, Hesston and Willow Bend in Wichita.

Because Gayla coaches at Friends University in Wichita, Elliot spends a lot of time at the Wichita course.

“Mom will drop me off at Willow Bend,” he said. “They have real good facilities to practice on.”

Jim Richmond, a Marion native who serves as a club pro there, started giving Elliot lessons about a year ago.

“He’s really helped me a lot,” Elliot said of Richmond. “I’m a lot more consistent with my irons and stuff.”

Last summer, Elliot competed in the Kansas Junior Golf, and placed second in the regional tournament for his age division.

Does he ever get tired of the game?

“No, not really,” he said.

Elliot said he has been pretty tight-lipped about his Kids Golf accomplishment. He’s told only one classmate at school.

“This one kid is my best friend, and he was in it too, so he knows,” he said.

Last year, more than 1,000 junior golfers played in the Kids Golf competition.

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