NEAR NORTH — Ryan Nelson has the golf swing of someone twice his age.
At just 4 years old, he grips the club left hand over right, pulls the club back overhead and swings through the ball on a tee, whacking it halfway down the basketball court.
That’s why Nelson’s mom, Laurie Nelson, signed him up for a weekly golf class at Seward Park, near Walter Payton College Prep.
“He was getting too good,” said Nelson, an Old Town resident. “We had to stop playing in the house.”
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Nelson said the class, which practices indoors on a basketball court, is a good opportunity for Ryan to practice his full swing.
“It’s good for driving,” Nelson said, who added that Ryan still practices putting at home with the real club his grandmother bought him.
On a recent Wednesday evening, seven kids, all under the age of 6, practiced driving and putting under the tutelage of Johnny Payton, aka “Coach Johnny.” The Chicago Park District class costs $30.
Payton said he teaches the kids very basic golf skills — the proper way to hold the club and how to set up the shot.
“It’s all about the grip,” Payton said.
After a quick review of golf vocabulary — “this is a driver, this is a putter” — Payton spaced out the young golfers along the court. Each child had a short plastic driver and a small mat with a teed up tennis ball. Payton guided the golfers through a couple practice swings before calling out, “OK, swing!”
Almost as fast as the tennis balls left the tees, the children dropped their clubs and sprinted into the middle of the court to collect the balls.
“These kids, their attention spans, you have to give them some distance,” Payton said with a laugh.
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