Will Martin wants to be better than Tiger Woods one day.
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The 12-year-old Port Macquarie prodigy only took up golf three years ago when he was intrigued about what buckets were doing hanging from signs at the Port Macquarie Driving Range.
"You could win different things by hitting the ball into the bucket and I wanted to win everything," the youngster said.
"I liked mini golf because it was something fun, something different and then I saw other people hitting shots and I wondered if I could hit my shots that far."
It only took a handful of attempts for his father Paul to realise his son was naturally talented and Will's interest quickly shifted from mini golf to the longer format.
Over the last three years he has dragged his handicap down from 27 to eight.
Part of the reason for that is his love of the game - he hits golf balls six days a week, but when he's older and out of school he wants to increase that to seven days.
He knows it will be that sort of motivation and drive that will give him the best chance of one day potentially turning professional.
"You're not going to get anywhere quickly from just doing one or two days a week," he said.
"You have to put the effort in and be naturally talented at the same time because if you're not then it's going to make it a lot harder for you."
Despite most of 2021 being ruled out because of COVID, the 12-year-old still became the youngest-ever captain of the Lower North Coast Junior team when they played Newcastle District.
He was also the runner-up in the gross division of the Seaside Classic in July.
And if he doesn't achieve the goal of being better than Tiger Woods, Will is more than happy to be just as good as Rory McIlroy or Dustin Johnson.
"It's a bit weird because I say I'm not that great, but my dad says 'you're actually really good, you're just saying you're not that great because there are other players out there who are the same age as you who play off a four handicap'," he said.
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