VERO BEACH — It was quite a week for Carter Dalili, 12, who won the Quail Valley Golf Championship in late April, playing against seasoned adult golfers. Earlier this month, the Gifford Middle School sixth grader bested that accomplishment when he won the world junior golf championship in Pinehurst, N.C.
Then, on Sunday he led the US junior team to victory against the international “world” team.
On Monday, an ESPN sports anchor called his barrier island home, asking to meet and interview him. And on Tuesday, as a camera crew followed him around the Quail Valley course, Carter talked about his game.
“It was all really good, from the championship to the Junior World Cup to ESPN coming. But to be honest the most important thing for me is to keep working hard,” said Carter.
The tournament at Pinehurst began with 160 boys – all 12 years old – from around the world. But after three days of playing course No. 8 with its dips, swales, sloping edges and whimsical snarls, the competition narrowed to five players, including one from Australia, another from England and Carter.
In the end, as over 1,000 golf fans watched, Carter fought it out with Louis Dobbelaar from Australia to win by two strokes.
But first things first.
Prior to going, Carter had played every day of the summer at Quail Valley, Pointe West or Vero Beach Country Club and worked three days a week with his coach Sal Spallone, who himself had won the world junior golf championship in 1995.
“Lately, Carter and I worked on how to manage his game and his tour strategy,” said Spallone. “Carter has come a long way very quickly, turning into a fabulous golfer.”
A week before the tournament, Carter and his dad, Vero Beach internist Curtis Dalili, arrived at Pinehurst to practice.
“We totally immersed ourselves in golf for the week,” said Dalili, who was his son’s caddy during the tournament that began Thursday, July 31.
The first day of the tournament at Pinehurst, as it rained off and on, Carter birdied four holes and bogeyed three to finish one below par with a 71. But Dobbelaar, who would be his main competition, birdied five holes, bogeyed two and finished three below par with a 69.
Friday, it rained a lot. Both Dalili and Dobbelaar made par on Hole 1 and birdied Hole 2. Then, the kid from England got a hole-in-one on 5.
Dalili birdied 5 and 6 tying the score with Dobbelaar, as the two took the lead. But Hole 9 was a disaster for Dalili who double-bogeyed. Despite repeated birdies that put Dalili a stroke below par at the end of Friday, after two days of playing, Dobbelaar was still a stroke ahead.
On Saturday, the final day of the tournament, it rained like crazy. A kid from Dallas, who had been hovering near the top, just below Dobbelaar and Dalili, had the best day, finishing with a 69, three below par. But the Two Ds – Dobbelaar and Dalili – fought it out for the best overall score and the championship.
By Dreaded Hole 9, Carter Dalili was at par and two strokes ahead of Louis Dobbelaar. But 9 got Dalili again, with double bogey, which tied him with the Australian.
“Be confident, son,” Curtis Dalili whispered, as they headed to Hole 10.
Dalili birdied 10. Dobbelaar birdied 12. Neck and neck they went until Hole 16, which Dobbelaar bogeyed, placing Dalili a stroke ahead for the three days of play. But in driving rain on Hole 17, which is a huge undulating green with major slopes, Dalili’s drive went 270 yards downhill, into the rough.
“We both knew it before the ball landed,” said his dad. “I was thinking, ‘Let’s just go jump in the lake.’ But he stayed calm and focused, and hit the ball perfectly, eight feet from the hole.”
Carter eagled Hole 17 and went into Hole 18 in the lead.
By this time, despite steady rain, about 650 people were still gathered around the club house at Hole 18 to watch.
“It was unbelievable. It was like the U.S. Open,” said the dad.
Dobbelaar hit the ball within eight feet of the hole. Dalili was short. Dobbelaar birdied the hole to finish the day with a 74, two above par. Dalili made par on Hole 18 to finish the day one below par at 71.
But as they walked off the course mentally and physically exhausted, neither father nor son knew who had won the tournament.
The results of the Junior World Golf Championship in Pinehurst, NC.: Carter Dalili won, ending three strokes below par and two strokes better than Louis Dobbelaar, the closest competitor.
The day after becoming world champion, Carter played on the U.S. junior team, made up of the top 10 boys and top six girls, all 12, from the U.S. Of the 16, four were from Florida and four from Texas.
Their counterparts on the international team included five kids from South Africa and Louis Dobbelaar from Australia.
The eight teams on each side played 18 holes at Pinehurst, and the team with the lowest score after each match got a point. When it was all said and done, the U.S. team had five points and the international team had three.
A photo on the Junior World Cup of Golf website shows Carter in the middle of his team hoisting the cup in the air.
Back in Vero Beach, Carter got a call from ESPN and agreed to an interview as he played Hole 14 at Quail Valley on Aug. 5.
“It was all a really good confidence builder, but the most important thing for me is to remain steady,” said Carter at the end of a spectacular week.