Golf made elementary

A year and a half ago, Andy Weaver tried and tried to get Zane, his then-5-year-old son, to play on a golf course. Most representatives at the golf courses feared for Zane’s safety. They also worried the little guy didn’t know enough about the game.

But father knew best. Weaver, a Corona del Mar resident, wrote letters to the American Golf Corporation, a large management firm for several golf courses, public and private. Yet Zane would still be turned away.

One time, while playing with his grandfather, John Loeschhorn, at Casta del Sol Golf Course in Mission Viejo, an official asked his age. Moments later, Zane couldn’t play on the course anymore. When he went to play at David Baker Golf Course in Fountain Valley, someone had already called, warning not to let Zane play there.

“I wrote a letter to the president of [American Golf Corporation] and told him to let Zane play,” Weaver said. “It’s ridiculous that age is a limit on the course. He’s not dangerous.”

The hassle that started in the summer of 2007 dragged into 2008, but finally little Zane was able to play on the courses, legally.

He actually is dangerous, only in a different sense. He won the first tournament in which he competed, back in June.

He continued to win and dazzle those who saw him play. But his biggest win to date came Feb. 15, when he won the Future Champions Golf World Championship in San Diego.

He was the champ for the boys’ 6-and-under division. Zane won four Future Champions Junior Tour events to earn a spot at the world championship, which began at the Doubletree Resort (Feb. 14) and concluded at Colina Park Golf Course.

Zane, who is four-foot and weighs 47 pounds, is able to bang out a drive as far as 140 yards. And, his short game is not too shabby, either. Competing in a putting contest at the world championship two weeks ago, he was the only one to sink his putt. In the contest, Weaver said, the competitors were given two practice putts and then a putt that counted. He made his first practice putt and later sank the money ball, a 27-foot putt to win an Odyssey putter.

While Zane has the skill to be exceptional in his age division, he also takes advantage of his experience. He’s among the oldest in his age division, as he celebrated his seventh birthday at Disneyland Monday.

The small experience aside, it just seems Zane was born to play golf. He excels in soccer — he scored eight goals in a game this year — but he has taken a strong liking to golf since he began playing two years ago.

Even though he may have the most fun at the Happiest Place on Earth with a big mouse and his friends, Zane is still not too young to know what he wants to be when he grows up.

“A professional golf player,” he answered when asked of his future.

Of course that is subject to change, his father said, depending on the day. Zane has been known to say that he wants to be an astronaut or a doctor. Weaver reasons that’s just Zane, and he’s just a kid.

“He’s a little shy when he first meets somebody,” the father said. “Once he knows the person, he is outgoing.”

And, when he’s not golfing, Zane is all about Nintendo Wii and Star Wars Legos. Girls are gross for now, but he’s sure no one will say that about his baby sister, Lila, who is 5.

Zane also likes to play tennis and basketball, and even goes for the grown-up stuff, sitting down for a game of chess.

As a first-grader at Harbor View Elementary, Zane became the first student to read 100 books and earned a pizza party for that.

He says when he plays golf he still feels like a kid out on the course. So his excitement was expected when he won the world championship, his eighth win in 15 tournament appearances.

“It felt good,” Zane said.

On the first day, he shot a one-over-par 37 in wet conditions, sinking four birdies on the nine-hole course. He carried a one-stroke lead into the final Feb. 15, but then dropped back to third with seven holes to play.

Zane played even par over the final seven holes. His birdie on the 16th hole helped him seal the deal to win the inaugural title in his division.

Now it’s on to bigger things. He hopes to somehow compete March 3 in the Shot from the Top, the annual event at the Toshiba Classic in which high school students team up with pros to take their best shot from atop the roof at the Newport Beach Marriott & Spa, onto the green at the Newport Beach Country Club.

He may also attend the Wells Fargo Junior Clinic March 7, where pros lend advice to the young players.

There might be some foreshadowing next week at the Toshiba Classic for the golfing boy wonder. Zane just might become a pro too.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at steve.virgen@latimes.com.