Fairway Phenom

Anthony Kim is just like every other teenage-wannabe-professional golfer who has been swinging a club since age 2.

But with one notable exception: This kid is going places.

The Studio City resident celebrated his 14th birthday less than a month ago and was among the youngest of 66 competitors at the U.S. Junior Amateur Regional qualifier Monday at Woodland Hills Country Club.

But Kim, who has gained 35 pounds in the last nine months, played like a seasoned veteran, shooting two-over par 142 for 36 holes to stun the favorites and finish as top local qualifier for the U.S. Junior Amateur at Country Club of York in York, Pa., on July 27-31.

“I came out thinking if I posted a number and don’t make it, it’s my first time and that’s OK,” Kim said.

Despite the psychological cushion he allowed himself, Kim is anything but forgiving on a golf course.

“He has a swing where he doesn’t have any regrets,” said Paul Hibler, a friend who caddied for Kim on Monday. “He told me that a long time ago.

“He lets it rip, but he’s always thinking. And he’s really competitive for a 14-year-old kid. He’s out there to win.”

Coach Brad Sherfy of UCLA, who has given Kim private lessons the last four years, also has witnessed Kim’s tenacity and desire.

“He’s a confident young man and he’s worked really hard to get to where he’s at,” Sherfy said.

Hibler, who met Kim on a Studio City driving range two years ago, knows a competitive athlete when he sees one.

Hibler, 41, a graduate of St. Francis High, was a starting guard at Stanford in the late 1970s, protecting future NFL quarterbacks Steve Dils, Turk Schonert and John Elway.

Much to Hibler’s surprise, caddying for Kim--a kid 27 years his junior--got the competitive juices flowing again.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the heat of the battle, so to speak,” Hibler said. “It got pretty exciting there toward the end [of qualifying Monday].

“His intensity was something that was very impressive to me.”

The 5-foot-4 1/2, 140-pound Kim got off to a poor start with a bogey on the first hole and missed a three-foot putt for birdie on the third hole.

But he kept his game in check, he said, by staying in the fairway with three and five woods, rarely hitting his driver.

“I played solid, but I didn’t play anything spectacular,” he said.

Kim has dreamed about extraordinary rounds of golf since his father cut down the shaft of a persimmon wood for his 2-year-old son to use as a club. Since then, Kim has spent endless hours hitting balls into a net that surrounded the family’s vegetable garden.

But Kim’s game outgrew the backyard years ago.

In the next month, the family will decide whether to move to Yorba Linda and live on golf course or stay in Studio City, Kim said.

Whether it’s moving the family or following Kim with a shagbag, Kim’s parents are willing to go to great lengths to improve their son’s game.

It was Kim’s parents who kept prodding their son to gain weight to improve his distance off the tee.

He resisted at first, but about nine months ago Kim discovered he really enjoys food, especially the starchy stuff.

“I was the thinnest kid in my class . . . now I’m the fatest one,” said Kim, who recently finished eighth grade at Campbell Hall.

Pizza. Pasta. Anything with cheese on it. That’s how Kim gained 35 pounds since September.

With bulk came power--another 40 yards on his drive.

“He’s hitting it 280, 290 [yards] now,” said Hibler, who coincidentally owns a catering business and pizza restaurant that Kim frequents.

Said Sherfy: “He’s a great little player. For his size, he pounds it.”

Still, Kim is something of a mystery in golf circles. He only started competing in bigger amateur tournaments this year.

He said he was four strokes short of making the Nissan Open qualifying cut in February.

“There have been some other kids who have gotten a little more publicity, because they’re a year or two older,” Hibler said. “But we’re going to be hearing a lot about him now.

“Now that he’s long off the tee, he can play with anybody.”

The only component of Kim’s game that needs work, Hibler said, is learning to handle his emotions. Kim acknowledges he needs to play more under control.

“Once I get emotional, it gets really emotional,” Kim said.

That’s where Hibler comes in. He keeps Kim grounded by making him slow down and talk about what he’s going to do on each shot.

Hibler is certain Kim will mellow with age.

“The only thing standing between him and success is puberty,” Hibler said. “And we have no way of knowing how that’s going to turn out.”