Prior to his first victory on the Junior Golf Association of
Northern California two weeks ago, Amay Poria shouldn’t have needed
much convincing to know he belonged playing among the elite youth
golfers. His 2011 campaign included stops at the U.S. Kids European
Junior Championship in Scotland, a second-place finish at a JGANC
event at Brookside Country Club of Stockton and a third-place
effort at San Mateo’s Poplar Creek among several top-tier youth
tournaments
MORGAN HILL
Prior to his first victory on the Junior Golf Association of Northern California two weeks ago, Amay Poria shouldn’t have needed much convincing to know he belonged playing among the elite youth golfers.
His 2011 campaign included stops at the U.S. Kids European Junior Championship in Scotland, a second-place finish at a JGANC event at Brookside Country Club of Stockton and a third-place effort at San Mateo’s Poplar Creek among several top-tier youth tournaments.
Still his four-stroke win Aug. 2 at Silver Creek Valley Country Club did more for his confidence than perhaps all of his previous top-five finishes combined.
“I finally put it together,” said Poria, 15, an incoming sophomore at Oakwood High School. “I played well both days. I didn’t have a weakness. Everything went well.”
Poria’s mental fortitude at times has been his biggest shortcoming. Before it was strength, which he began amending recently while training with Dr. David Yawger of the Titleist Performance Institute and his swing coach, Don Leone. Poria has lengthened his drive.
But his short game was still a concern as early as three weeks ago. That’s when he missed a 2-foot putt that would have put him in a playoff at a tournament in San Jose.
“That was rough,” he said.
A week later Poria was perfect from inside five feet at Silver Creek, holding off Eashwar Thenpattinam down the stretch to triumph at 1-under par.
“With stuff like that, it just comes down to confidence,” said Leone, the PGA director of instruction at Coyote Creek Golf Club. “The more events he plays in, the more comfortable he’s getting. He’s doing much better now.
“He has a lot to work on, but getting that win more than anything has built his confidence level up. He knows he can compete with kids at this level regularly.”
Poria credits much of his improvement to John Ellsworth, the renowned sports psychologist who began working with him four weeks ago.
“We’re already noticing a huge difference,” Poria’s father, Bharat, said. “Amay is stronger mentally.”
That was reinforced last week at the American Junior Golf Association’s summer series finale at San Jose Country Club. Poria tied for second at 8-over in the boys championship flight, losing by one stroke to Jacob Solomon of Dublin, to finish eighth out of 393 players in the NCGA Junior Boys rankings.
Monday Poria teed off at a major AJGA tournament in Santa Clarita. A strong performance there could lead to bigger things in 2012. Poria’s short list of goals include qualifying for the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Creek and possibly the U.S. Open Championship, though, he is a long shot.
“I’m not sure if I can make it, but I definitely hope,” he said of the June 11-17 major set to be held at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. “I just need to keep playing well and shooting for low numbers.”
