The Cherry family has caught golf fever. It happens when discovering your child has a special talent for the game. At eight years old, Aiden Cherry hasn’t swung the clubs for very long, but is already considered one of the country’s best.
“My dad started taking Aiden golfing with him for a little bit,” father Avery Cherry said. “He plays baseball too, but he has gotten the golf thing down.”
Avery said his son has taken part in junior PGA tournaments and excelled.
“When you sign up for it, they send out a list of tournaments, and then you just sign up for the tournament you want to go play, and kind of start building up points from there. Aiden actually joined the PGA Junior Under Armor, and at his age, they play nine holes. If you score under 48 in three of the tournaments, you qualify for the nationals in Florida, which is what we just went and did.”
The investment is significant. Some tournaments are local, where the family can drive to Houston, League City, Conroe or somewhere in the Houston area. Bigger events can be a journey to either coast. Kids can start as early as six years of age.
Aiden’s abilities were discovered almost by accident. It was on a trip to The Woodlands in the PGA store where grandfather Jeff was purchasing golf balls.
Jeff called Avery to tell him about Aiden’s gift for striking the ball.
“My dad had actually just started getting into golf about a year prior to taking him,” Avery said. “He got a love for it. He said, ‘I’m telling you, he’s got a good swing.’ Then, I watched him swing and he obviously wasn’t perfect at the time, but I could see what he was talking about. At eight years old, he's hitting a ball with his driver now like 180 yards.”
Jeff tells the story of that trip to the PGA store where it all really began. Since that time, the Cherrys have invested in practices, tournaments, and driven thousands of miles in pursuit of a new dream.
“I took Aiden with me to The Woodlands one day. We went into the PGA store over there and I was looking at some balls for a customer that played. That's all I was there for. I was on one side of the counter and he was on the other – he's shorter, I couldn't see him.”
A store worker came over to ask Jeff if his son was in the simulator. Realizing his grandson had gotten away, he was on his way to find Aiden.
“He said, ‘He’s in there hitting balls. I wasn’t trying to tell on him. I was trying to ask you if you’ve ever seen him swing a golf club?’”
Jeff explained that Aiden didn’t play golf, that he instead participated in youth baseball. The grandfather went around the corner to ask Aiden if he had a golf club.
“No sir, my friend’s got one, but he’s not that good,” Aiden replied.
The youth then explained that he watched videos to learn the game. After a few drives, Jeff called Avery to ask if he had ever seen him with a club.
Avery did not want his son doing anything that could alter his baseball mechanics. His mind would soon change.
Jeff convinced Avery to let him enter Aiden in a tournament, and spent a little over two weeks with him.
Once at a Golf Club of Houston tournament, the young player Aiden was to be paired with turned ill and did not show. He was instead paired with a 14-year-old.
After four holes, the teenager was eight strokes behind the eight-year-old.
Following a few local tournaments, he qualified for an Under Armor event in Palm Beach, Florida, with scores of 36, 38 and 39 (nine-hole events). Jeff asked a tournament director if his grandson was ready for such a big step up in competition. He was told the kids improve with challenges, and that no one was going to challenge his grandson locally.
In Florida, Aiden would make the second day, tied for eighth. Finishing ninth amongst 45 of the country's best youth golfers, he missed another cut by a stroke. Tournament officials and other families took notice of the big swing.
Now traveling to Houston each Sunday for two different practices, the youngster is getting more of a feel for the game.
Pausing a video game to be interviewed, Aiden said he has been playing for eight months now. He also confirmed that golf has surpassed baseball as the favorite sport. What does he like about it?
“To hit the Hybrid,” Aiden said about wielding a club that combines features of a fairway wood and an iron.
Jeff said entering his grandson into tournaments confirmed the promise he saw. To help the young talent, he purchased a simulator and has constructed a Par 3 for practice both indoors and outdoors.
“I tried to get everybody’s attention, and it didn’t take long when we got into those tournaments,” he said of Aiden’s abilities. “It’s just one of those God-given things you’re born with.”
