Justus among top US juniors

Hudson Justus picked up a golf club for the first time when he was three years old. Now, six years later, Justus is one of the best junior players in the country.

Justus, the son of Scott and Dawn Justus, appears to have an unlimited future in the game. Justus has won several national events over the past few years, beating players from all over the world.

Hudson's first taste of golf came at the now-closed Mossy Creek Golf Course south of Cleveland. What was expected to a quick round of nine holes with his dad turned into much more.

“I thought if we could make it through nine holes, that would be good,” said Scott Justus, who is the assistant superintendent of White County County schools. “But then we ate lunch and he wanted to go back out, after we finished 27 holes, he was hooked.”

Oddly enough, Netflix also played a role in Justus' development as a player. In 2013, a documentary called The Short Game debuted on the popular entertainment streaming service. According to Netflix, the documentary followed some of the best 7-year old-golfers from around the world as they played in the U.S. Kids World Champion tournament.

“That Netflix video made him want to play in the US Kids World Championship,” Scott Justus said.“He's watched it and he told me 'Dad, that's what I want to do,' He's probably watched it a 1,000 times by now.”

Scott Justus said Hudson never seems to get enough of the game.

“He plays more than golf than I ever imagined he'd play,” Justus said. “He plays all the time. During the pandemic, he knew if he finished his school work, he could go play. That was his motivation to do well in school. He'd get finished at lunch and go play. There are days when he spends eight hours on the course. This isn't something we make him do or ask him to do. He loves it. He never gets tired of it, never gets bored with it. He plays basketball too, and we work around that schedule because he still wants to play every day. One day some of the neighborhood kids were out playing, and I asked him if wanted to play with them. He said 'No, I am playing.' Golf is fun for him. It's something he wants to do all the time.”

Hudson's golfing journey has turned into a family event, with family vacations planned around golf tournaments.

“When he was younger, my dad (Woody Justus) was still alive, and he would take him to the course,” Scott Justus said. “My dad laid a concrete slab at our house and made a putting green. Hudson has spent hours on hours out there. Now it's turned into something for the whole family. We go on vacations around golf. That's something that I really enjoy about it. It's started as a little boy that watched a Netflix video, and now it's about a little boy playing golf that has brought a family together.”

Hudson gets coaching from George Hunt, who runs kids camps at Chattahoochee Country Club in Gainesville.

When asked what his favorite thing are playing golf, Hudson quickly  said “competitiveness, and he said' I like beating my friends on the golf course.”

He's been doing that a lot this year. Hudson has had success on the national level for the past few years, but he has really taken off over the past over the past six months.

In June, Hudson won the 10U title a the Future Master's event in Dothan, Ala.. The tournament is the oldest youth golf tournament, starting in 1948.

In this year's event, the 10U field of 44 golfers played two nine-hole rounds to determine the champion.

Hudson led by three strokes after firing a 33 in the first round, and then had a 36 in the second round to finish at 69, and take the title. He was the only golfer in the fired to finish at under 70, with Florida's Bento Assis second at 71.

In July, Justus picked up his second U.S. Kids World championship at legendary Pinehurst Golf Resort in North Carolina, winning the 9U division.

During the tournament, Hudson posted a three-round total of 208 to win his second Kids World title. After shooting a 72 in the opening round, Justus was four strokes behind Florida's Caiden Westbrook. He had a 67 in the second round to climb up the leaderboard, and finished things off with a 69 to beat Miami's Axel Monssoh by three strokes.

Hudson got a surprise from Justin Thomas, one of the top players on the PGA Tour, while he was at the Kids World tournament.

“Justin Thomas is my favorite player, he sent me a video when I was at the Worlds,” Hudson said. “Winning the Worlds two times is my favorite thing.”

Last week at Barefoot Resort and Golf in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., Justus captured the top spot in the 10U division at the Faldo Hurricane Series Grand Final.

Justus had rounds of 73 and 72 to finish the two-round event at 145, beating California's Ryder Lin by two strokes.

More than 60 golfers competed in the event during the qualifying stages earlier in the year, with the Top 16 moving onto the Grand Final. “

I've been a baseball coach and I know there are certain things that you just can't coach,” Scott Justus said. “He has this competitive drive and he motivates himself. I watch him play sometimes and I wonder where this came from. I didn't teach him this. If you've seen me play golf, you know he didn't get this from me. It's almost like watching someone else's kid when I see him do certain things. His drive is something special to watch. I'm a man of faith and I believe it's a God-given talent. I'm getting emotional just talking about it.”