Growing up fast on Hilton Head Island

There are lots of ways to get better at this vexing game we call golf. You can pitch and putt for a few moments before a round, like many of us are content to do. You can hit a bucket of balls now and then, the better to groove habits good and bad, or even take the occasional lesson from people who actually do know how to play.

Or, as Derrick Villarreal has done, you can jump into the game with full abandon. Halfway through the sixth grade he left his family’s home in Hartland to enroll in the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy on Hilton Head Island, S.C. Now 15, he is a high school freshman at the academy, where half of each day is spent on academics and half is devoted to the game of golf, all under the umbrella of the man who once taught Tiger Woods.

Villarreal is the only Wisconsin student at the Haney academy, which currently has students from 45 states and 25 countries. But home state figures made the move easier for him; Derrick said his head group coach, who was from Appleton, “took me under his wing and really looked after me.” His head swing coach, Peter Krause, also has Wisconsin ties, and his fitness coach and tournament director were also Wisconsin natives, he said, “so it felt in a strange way that I was in Wisconsin.”

Young as he was when he arrived – there were only two other sixth-graders at the time – older students treated him as their little brother, he said. Now, he is something of a veteran, if still a freshman, and certainly more seasoned than students as young as 10 and 11 who have enrolled at the Haney academy.

Derrick’s father, Ernesto Villarreal, said his son became hooked on the game seven years ago. He began entering tournaments and eventually was chosen for a competition in Scotland. It became clear he had talent, Ernesto said, but just as clear that he needed professional guidance. He began working seriously on his game with the help of Milwaukee-area pros. Then, Ernesto said, he saw a program about the Haney academy on Golf Channel, arranged a meeting with school officials and came away impressed with their teaching plan. He said that while they were impressed with his ball striking ability, his swing would have to be overhauled to eliminate flaws that would be exposed as he grew older.

The work has paid off, Ernesto and Derrick said. He has competed in many junior tournaments since joining the academy, was the youngest competitor in last year’s Wisconsin State Amateur and is currently playing up a division in the 19-and-under group to prepare for this year’s summer events.

Resident instructors do most of the teaching at the academy but each student gets individual instruction from Haney during his visits each four to six weeks. Derrick said Haney’s “high hopes for me” give him confidence and that Haney “goes out of the way to make sure I know what swing improvements he wants me to keep working on.”

Not surprisingly, Derrick dreams of a professional career but admits that, “I just turned 15 so I really don’t know where I am going to be at in three years.” He intends to finish high school at the academy and “would love to play for the Florida Gators, Texas Longhorns or Wisconsin Badgers.”

Ernesto said Derrick had not been overly fond of school before enrolling at the academy, to the point where he talked about leaving school and turning pro at 16.

“Now that wasn’t realistic,” he said, “but that’s where his mind was at.” Now, Ernesto said, “he absolutely loves his life, and that really helps with my wife and I.

“He’s in very good hands.”

In Wisconsin hands, and not only at Hilton Head. Ernesto also credits Wisconsin pros with helping Derrick with instruction, practice time and encouragement, including Paul LoCicero and Jack Gaudion of The Legends Clubs.

“He’s a great kid,” Gaudion said. “He’s a grinder. It’s his dream and he’s working at it. It’s going to be fun to see where it takes him.”

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