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KETTERING — Puzzled looks followed Alec Tahy wherever he went at Moraine Country Club in late May during a qualifier for the Ohio Amateur.

Men, some of whom were twice his size and four times his age, wondered aloud if Alec was a spectator who had accidently wandered onto the golf course.

But by the end of the day, those questions had turned into congratulations as the 13-year-old golfer shot a 76, good enough for 11th place and a spot in the July 15-18 Ohio Am at Findlay Country Club.

Jim Popa, executive director of the Ohio Golf Association, said that Tahy is not only the youngest player in this year's field, but the youngest he can remember qualifying for the tournament in the 30 years he's been involved with the event.

Alec, an Oakwood resident who has been playing golf since he was 3 years old, will be an eighth-grader at St. Albert and plans to play golf at Alter High School.

In his words

"The best thing about golf for me is that I get to meet new people. I try to set goals for myself and beat them every time I play.

"Last year I beat (my dad) by one shot. He wasn't too happy, but he told everyone that 'my son beat me.' It felt good to know that I beat my dad because that was one of my goals when I was younger.

"I like Tiger, definitely, and Adam Scott. I just like Adam's style and he's still a pretty good player.

"I'm looking forward to Alter and especially college golf. I probably want to go somewhere south or west like Oklahoma State and Duke. Oklahoma State has a really good golf team ... but Duke has a lot better academics. I like Duke and Notre Dame, because they are both good at sports.

"(Charlie Weis) is a pretty good coach. I think he may get the boot here soon because they didn't have a very good season. He needs to try and work with the defense a little more.

"I used to love J.J. Redick. I'd always have the jersey on and I just liked them because they have a really good coach and I like a lot of their players.

"I'm pretty good with numbers in math and with science I'm just interested in doing science projects. They're fun.

"For the science fair I made this thing to see if tee height affected the distance that the golf ball went. You took a meat cleaver back and swung it and we got to do it in the hallway of our school and it went like 110 feet.

"I just don't like learning (Spanish). I don't know why. I just don't think that it's going to help me in the long run. But it probably will, especially playing golf.

"I spend three quarters of my day on the golf course and about a quarter of the day at home. I'm either watching TV or hanging out with friends, maybe playing video games."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-0652

or modonnell@DaytonDailyNews.com.