Rogers Youth Wins State Golf Invitational

LOWELL -- Andrew Fakult first picked up a golf club around the age of four years old. Joining his father, Mike Fakult, and his older brother, Matthew, on the course, young Andrew didn't need long to figure out the game fit him like a glove.

"He would just follow along when I took his brother Matthew out to play," Mike Fakult said. "He would run up and down the fairway and hit balls with that little plastic set and he looked like a polo player out there."

Andrew wasn't working on his polo skills back then, though. Soon enough, a golf game many grown men would envy developed.

By the age of six, Fakult joined the U.S. Kids Golf.com tournament tour, where he played well enough to play at the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship at the famous Pinehurst Golf Club in Pinehurst, N.C.

"I didn't know how famous the course was at the time," Andrew Fakult said. "But it was a great experience and a really nice course."

Fakult, now 11, lives in Rogers and has matured into an even stronger player over the past five years. His most recent example of his dominance over the competition at his age group came at the U.S. Kids Golf.com Missouri State Invitational. Held July 13-14 at the Tanterra Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks, Fakult won the 11-year-old division with a 36-hole total of 163, shooting 81 and 82 over two days.

"I don't go into a tournament expecting to win," Fakult said. "But I know if I work hard enough, I'll be tough to beat for the other golfers in my age group in the area."

The win at Tanterra earned Fakult another invitation to the U.S. Kids Golf World Championships at Pinehurst. But having already made that trip, he has another goal in mind this summer.

Fakult also plays the Junior PGA circuit during the summer, facing other Northwest Arkansas golfers at various Junior PGA-designated courses. The top three golfers from each age division then qualify for the state Junior PGA event, held next week at The Greens at North Hills in Little Rock. Fakult qualified first in his age division out of Northwest Arkansas and looks forward to a chance to win the state tournament after just missing out on the title last year.

"I made that one of my goals," Fakult said. "I wanted to come back and win that one."

Fakult plays regularly at Lost Springs in Rogers, Paradise Valley in Fayetteville and at the First Tee of Northwest Arkansas. He also takes lessons at Pinnacle Country Club, showing a true desire to outwork the competition.

"With Andrew it started out with it being him and his brother just being boys," his father Mike, said. "And he just took it to the course from there.

"Andrew has always been able to look at his game and been able to work on it. He's always had that focus."

Sports on 08/01/2014