Virginia's Grayson Wood makes DC&P finals

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Perhaps someday Grayson Wood will compete for a green jacket in the Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta National Golf Course.

For now, the 9-year-old Fredericksburg native is more than happy to make the pilgrimage to the venerable golf course to try to win a different national championship.

The Courthouse Road Elementary School student will compete in the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship National Finals at Augusta National on Sunday. The event will be televised live by the Golf Channel starting at 9 a.m.

"I'm very excited, actually," Wood said. "I'm looking forward to having fun."

Wood made the championship by excelling in a series of qualifying stages at the local, sub-regional and regional levels.

Tom Lernihan, Wood's instructor, expects his pupil to keep that momentum going against an even more elite class of young golfers.

The competition will take place on the driving range and 18th green at Augusta National, only one week before the best golfers in the world will occupy the same areas during the final day of the Masters.

"I really feel he's got a good chance to win," Lernihan said. "I say that, but they're all great players to get to this level. He's real special."

Wood has been practicing with much more frequency in the lead up to the championship. Ken Wood, Grayson's dad, recalled a recent chipping session that wasn't complete until Wood holed one of his shots.

When a ball settled into the cup, he said, "Finally. Now let's go get some pizza."

One of the biggest perks of playing in the championship is a pass to watch Monday's practice round at the Masters. Wood and his father, who is also making his first trip to Augusta National, will get to tour the course and partake in many of the tournament's traditions.

"Now my question to him is: Is he going to try the pimento cheese sandwiches? You can get them down there for a dollar, the pimento cheese sandwiches and egg salad sandwiches," Ken Wood said. "That's a big tradition at Augusta."

Ken Wood said the Drive, Chip and Putt competitors will get an opportunity to meet some of the golfers competing in the Masters. He's eager for his son to meet four-time major winner Ernie Els, a 6-foot-3 South African nicknamed "The Big Easy."

"Somewhere along the line, Grayson got the nickname 'The Little Easy,' so obviously for me, I'd like to meet Ernie Els and get to tell him that my son is nicknamed after him," Ken Wood said.

Wood has made golf look easy throughout the short time he's been playing. He was beating his dad by the age of 6, notched a double-eagle at the same age and hit a hole-in-one at 7. He recently finished sixth in his age group in a U.S. Kids Golf Championship in Jekyll Island, Ga., after shooting 77 on back-to-back days.

"He's already won as far as I've concerned. He's won because he's qualified and he gets to see Augusta National," Lernihan said.

"In 30 years of teaching, he's probably the most talented 9 year old I've ever worked with, and I've worked with quite a few."

This article was written by Nathan Warters from The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va. and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.