Neighborhood 13-year-old Grace Choi won the recent Dallas Junior Golf Championship at Tenison Highlands golf course, becoming the youngest winner of the girls’ division dating back to its beginning in 1962. Choi’s winning score of 219 even beat Scott Orsak, winner of the boy’s division, by four shots. Choi will be an 8th grader at J.L. Long Middle School next month, and her parents own the dry-cleaning business on the corner of the building at Live Oak and Skillman that also houses the Tipperary Inn and the Wine Therapist. My sons are budding golfers, with one of them a member of Woodrow Wilson High School’s district-winning golf team last year; they say they’ve seen Grace hitting the ball at Tenison and been blown away by her length and accuracy. She told the DMN that putting is her weakness, but with scores of 77-68-74 on the three-day event, she can’t be too bad on the greens. Both Grace and her younger sister also have been members of the Lakewood Elementary and Long mathletes teams, with both frequently winning individual awards at the weekend meets during the school season.
As an aside, Lake Highlands resident Scott Akers recently took over as director of instruction at Tenison, and he has put together some excellent youth and adult golf instruction programs; my sons and a friend were in one of the classes and raved about what a great teacher Akers is. And Tenison’s range is modern, with some of the stalls covered, so it’s a good alternative to the neighborhood Top Golf setup when you’re looking for more of a straight golf experience or plan to play a round on the course, too.
