Jun 15, 2008 - 15:29:31 CDT
He's no stranger to crowds watching in awe as he slams golf balls off the tee. On the greens, more often than not, he two-putts. He even has golf companies offering him free clubs.Some things he doesn't have? Facial hair. A driver's license. A bike without training wheels.
Gehrig Geiss, a 5-year-old boy from Glen Ullin, has been swinging golf clubs since he was 16 months old. He's being called the "5-year-old golf phenom" on YouTube and other Internet sites.
He's getting ready to play in his first big tournament, the U.S. Kids Golf regional qualifier for the World Championship. Gehrig will compete in the 6-and-under age group on June 25 at Oak Marsh Country Club in St. Paul, Minn. He will be the youngest golfer in the event.
His best drive is 157 yards. He has a 4 handicap on the 9-hole, 1,200-yard course he will play on in the tournament.
"I've never seen anybody have that much talent at that young of an age," said Tyler Reisenauer, golf pro at Heart River Municipal Golf Course in Dickinson, who trains Gehrig.
Gehrig has the talent of kids twice his age and could play on par with kids in junior high, Reisenauer said.
Both Gehrig's father Chris Geiss, a 35-year-old grocery store owner, and Reisenauer attribute much of the boy's abilities to his uncommon focus to the game.
"Golf isn't that exciting," said Reisenauser. "With somebody that young, the attention span usually isn't there."
With Gehrig, however, no one has to tell him to keep playing; in fact, his father often has to stop him. He'll hit ball after ball after ball.
"Ohhh, that one went on the green, Dad," said Gehrig at the Tom O'Leary junior golf course in Bismarck. "I'm all out of balls."
His record for most holes played in one day is 99 - that's 11 rounds. It isn't uncommon for him to hit as many as 500 balls in one day.
He plays all the time. Almost nonstop. At home, if he isn't in their large backyard, hitting chip shots at the make-shift pin, he is in the family basement, putting on the outdoor carpet they have with holes to simulate a green.
Gerhrig finished second in a 9-years-old-or-younger tournament Friday at Heart River Municipal Golf Course in Dickinson.
"If he keeps this up, no one will pass him by," Reisenauer said.
A week ago, his mother, Darla, played against him. They both played from the red tees. Gehrig beat his mom, 44 to 51.
Reisenauer usually won't train kids Gehrig's age. His next youngest is 9 years old.
"A lot of people have wanted to bring their kids in that young. Honestly, it's not that good an idea at that age, because they aren't going to learn anything and it's a waste of money," he said.
"But not Gehrig."
But what's most impressive at his age aren't his drives -which seem pulled by gravity toward the pin - it's his naturally ingrained mechanics, Reisnenauer said. Everything from his stance, his grip and his swing are unnatural for his age, he said.
"That swing that he has came from repetition," his father said, "but the touch, we couldn't take somebody that's 35 and never golfed before and teach them that."
Although Chris Geiss is a golf fanatic, he stresses that he hasn't pushed his son into the game.
"He might come to us when he's 7 or 8 and say he wants to do something else," he said.
Gehrig's 9-year-old sister, Brooklyn, isn't into golf at all; she likes horses, their father said.
"I'm not going to make him a golfer," he said. "He's choosing to do this."
Reisenauer said the trick to Gerhrig's future is for his father to find a way to keep the game fun for him, so he doesn't fall into a rut.
When asked what he wants to be when he gets older, Gehrig peered out from under his Titleist hat with a smile and said, "Tiga Woods."
His father said when he takes him to a new course, driving range or practice putting green, at first they get chuckles and people pointing out how cute Gehrig looks with his little golf glove, shoes and clubs.
But by the time they leave, the onlookers have doubled or tripled and they are laughing out of amazement.
"You just can't expect what he is able to do," his father said.
Click below to watch a video of Gehrig in action.
(Reach reporter Chris Rosacker at 250-8254 or chris.rosacker@bismarcktribune.com.)
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