Farmingdale 8th-grader, Nassau champ Lowe takes his emerging game to state golf meet
Farmingdale eighth grader Matt Lowe tees off from the 12th hole of the Red Course during the second and final round of the Nassau County boys golf team and individual championships at Bethpage State Park. Credit: James A. Escher
It began with a set of plastic clubs, a tee stuck in the rubber matting on one side of the basement floor and a hole cut out on the other.
The makeshift driving range was the birthplace of Matt Lowe's golf game. A place where, shortly after taking his first steps, he took his first swing and sunk his first putt all before he reached his first birthday.
"When he was 2 years old, we took him out to the golf course," Matt's father, Mike Lowe, said. "We did the whole Tiger Woods and Mike Douglas thing. We used to make him perform in front of people. He loved it."
Perhaps that is why, 13 years later, he became the youngest player in the country to try to qualify for last year's U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. Playing among the top pros and amateurs in the area during the Open qualifier last May, Lowe tied for 39th place at a very respectable 4-over-par 76.
It also might be why, on Tuesday, the Farmingdale eighth-grader had a nine-stroke victory in the Nassau County boys individual tournament at Bethpage Red, shooting a two-day score of 140 at the tender age of 14 to become the youngest winner in Nassau history.
"I've been practicing for my whole life," Lowe said. "I'm just going to do the best I can and try to win as many tournaments as possible. I want to reach my potential."
Lowe understands the sacrifices that have to be made in order to reach that potential. He has been playing competitively since he was in Metropolitan golf tournaments at the age of 6. With all the practice he puts in, including playing in the rain and high winds, it often leaves little time to be a kid.
"I'm sacrificing time," Lowe said. "But if I wanted to be doing something else, I'd be doing it."
It began in his basement, yet there is no limit on where it may end.
"His goals are very high," Mike Lowe said, "and you will be hearing more about him."
