What are the chances?

Two of the most talented, up-and-coming young Canadian golfers are growing up in Niagara-on-the-Lake’s tiny hamlet of St. Davids (pop. about 3,000).

Eli Perng and Kaige Zhu attended elementary school together, often competed together and, to top it off, they are great friends and neighbours. They’re also smart, engaging and well-spoken beyond their 14 years.

Now they’re off to high school after a whirlwind summer in which they played more than a dozen high-level tournaments across Canada and North America.

The dynamic duo graduated from St. Davids Public School in June and this month started Grade 9 at different high schools — Zhu at A.N. Myer in Niagara Falls and Perng at St. Francis in St. Catharines.

Both rookies have been selected to play on their high school golf teams.

And, although they’re barely 14 (Zhu hit that milestone a couple of weeks ago; Pern in May), the pair qualified for the Ontario U17 Championship Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 in Barrie.

Facing a field that included many players more than two years older, they both had solid weeks.

Zhu finished in a tie for fifth at 1-over for 54 holes (75-71-71—217) while Perng also made the final-round cut and at +17 and tied for 33rd (77-77-79—233).

But that tourney was just the finale of a summer that saw both boys make significant progress in a game that can be cruel even to the most talented practitioner.

The pair love golf, despite its inevitable ups and downs, and both hope to play in the U.S. college system at the highly competitive Division 1 level. And beyond that, there’s dreams of “The Show,” the pro tour.

Zhu has some insights into what it takes to get there thanks to his older sister Katherine, who played Division 1 golf for Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., and professionally in China.

She’s also married to PGA tour pro Collin Morikawa, so it’s no surprise who Zhu’s favourite golfer is.

“I really like the way he plays,” he says of Morikawa, a seven-time winner on the tour, including the 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 British Open.

And yes, “when I meet him or play with him, sometimes he gives me tips on my game.”

Like his dad, Mike, who coaches him at Royal Niagara Golf Club in Glendale, Zhu is also a top-tier junior tennis player, but golf consumes most of his attention these days.

Mike, now in his 60s, is a graduate of Beijing Sport University, where he majored in teaching and coaching elite athletes. He was a top tennis player in China into his 40s.

He coached Katherine until she was older and says he probably will continue to help Kaige for a few more years.

The family also lauds Carl Glauser, the boys’ principal at St. Davids, for being helpful in their development and establishing a golf team at the school a few years ago.

“He’s a very nice man and he encouraged them a lot,” adds Kaige’s mom, Jane Chu.

Practice is key to improving and on days when Perng and Zhu are not in a tournament, they’ll often be on a practice range, working hard on their already impressive games.

For several years now, Perng has worked closely with Niagara-on-the-Lake native Travis Glass at Eagle Valley, just down the road from his family’s home. Zhu usually practises at Royal Niagara in Glendale.

Their golf resumes and accomplishments are extensive, with many wins and top 10 finishes. But both boys say they are self-motivated, driven to succeed by their love for the game.

Perng has won several U.S. Kids Niagara tourneys, which Glass oversees, but the young phenom traces his golf lineage back much further, to around age 11 months.

“My Nana (Corinne Bosch) got me some plastic clubs and I would just hit golf balls around the house, like tennis balls or anything, pretty much.”

His paternal grandad also cut down an old iron and it became his first real club.

Then, around age seven, with encouragement from Glass, who’s still his coach, he started playing in tournaments.

And that has led to hectic summers like this past one where he teed it up at courses across Canada and the U.S.

“I’ve been really busy with a lot of tournaments this summer. So, most of my practising has been practice rounds and warming up for tournaments at many different courses,” Perng says.

Competing in tournaments, especially against older, stronger, more experienced kids demands a positive mindset, he says.

And he also keeps an eye on those older players, studying how they play and manage their game.

“Honestly, I’m just focused on what I can do and at the end of the day, that’s all I can control,” he says.

For instance, on day two of that Ontario U17 tourney a few weeks ago, “I hit a couple of really bad shots, but I still just focused on the next shot and what I can do better. I did really well at keeping my composure.”

He shot 77 that day, a very respectable score that most recreational golfers would be ecstatic with. But at his elite level the goal is to shoot par or better.

At 14, he’s got lots of time to work on that. He’s 5 foot 7 and still growing but already drives the ball 240 yards or more.

Perng’s dad Richard, a radiologist in Niagara, says Eli and Kaige have very different games.

At six feet tall, Zhu “hits the ball a ton, very long (often 275 yards or more off the tee). Eli is much more of a hit fairways and just stay down the middle kind of player,” Richard says.

That accuracy helps him play the game at a high level, he says.

Dad accompanies Eli to most tournaments but emphasizes he is there for support, not to push him to excel.

“I don’t want him to lose his love of the game and at this stage a parent can do that negatively,” Richard says.

Besides, with five kids in the Perng family, all of whom are involved in competitive sports, there’s a lot on the go.

Up till this year, Eli, the eldest, also was in competitive hockey, but after suffering a wrist injury last season while playing at the AA level in Niagara Falls, he’s decided to hang up his skates.

That injury lingered for months and affected his golf game for much of the season, he says. So, now he’s all-in on golf.

Father and son both play at Cherry Hill in Ridgeway, where Eli is the reigning junior boys champion. Dad is no slouch, though, and is a single-digit handicapper.

As Perng’s coach at Eagle Valley, Glass is pleased by his protege’s progress.

“Eli has made some great strides this season, with under-par rounds in local and (American Junior Golf Association) events in the States,” he tells The Lake Report.

“The hard work and dedication has not gone unnoticed by myself and staff around our course. The future is very bright for him.”

Zhu’s family retains strong ties to China and over the past few years has spent time each winter on Hainan Island, the southern-most part of the country. There, Kaige worked on his golf and tennis in the cold months, while keeping up with his schoolwork remotely.

Now that Kaige is in high school, dad Mike says how much time they spend in China remains to be seen.

Given his son’s youth, it’s important not to push too hard on the mental aspect of the game, he says.

“I want to teach him the method, the skills to control your emotions and to try to focus on each shot.”

“We never push him to do the training,” he adds. “He always wants to do it.”

When he’s older, he wants his son to be able to look back and recall a “happy childhood.”

Kaige has played many sports, initially focusing on tennis and didn’t really take golf seriously till about age 10.

When he got into it, “I loved the game, so I felt like I should start playing golf more and then just kind of stuck to it,” he says.

He’s come a long way in barely four years. While U.S. college golf is the next big goal, in the longer term, “I’d like to be like Collin and play on the PGA tour.”

He recognizes there’s a lot of work ahead to make that dream come true.

As with Eli, this year his goal was to consistently shoot par or better, whether he was playing in his own age group or against opponents years older.

Both players made significant strides and their futures seem bright.

As for how tiny St. Davids managed to turn out two such outstanding sport prospects, perhaps Eli sums it up best.

“I don’t know, but it’s pretty amazing, though, isn’t it?”