Local teen lives a summer dream

Michael Green Jr. is having one of those summers junior golfers only dream about.

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Win a statewide golf tournament on your home course? Did it.

Represent your state on the winning side of a team match? Did it.

Commit to play golf next fall at your favorite college? Did it.

And he's not through. Green will participate in the invitation-only hp Boys Junior Championship next week at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Fla. Then, there's U.S. Amateur qualifying next month.

"I just want to finish it out," he said, "and have the best summer I've had yet."

A 17-year-old senior at Richmond Academy, he could be content with his accomplishments. But that's not Green, as Augusta Country Club head pro Tommy Brannen learned after their first meeting four years ago.

"I quickly realized this kid was just golf," Brannen said. "He's just infatuated with it. He works hard at it.

"If he continues to work on his golf game, he can be every bit as good as Charles Howell. Charles just outworks everybody."

Who knows more about Green's work ethic than Brannen? When he left Atlanta Athletic Club for Augusta Country Club in 2000, he first met this 13-year-old with an awkward swing.

"I told him he has a nice swing, but he shoots it way inside-out," Brannen said. "I told him he needs to swing more on plane."

Brannen broke down Green's swing and reworked it. After a few years of instruction, video analysis and banging enough golf balls to fill Rae's Creek, Green got it.

He surprised everyone, including himself, when he shot 70 as a freshman to win the Class AAA state championship.

Proving it wasn't a fluke, Green fired 4-under-par 68 to win the 2003 state title and help his team capture the top honor as well.

"The first year, I wasn't expecting to play well. I just went out there and did what I could," he said. "(The next year) I really went out there and felt like I was going to win. It felt good to meet my expectations."

Following a fifth-place finish in the state tournament this year, Green drew heavy interest from Georgia and Alabama.

Green ended the recruiting war before it really had a chance to begin. After eating lunch with Georgia coach Chris Haack in Augusta in early July, Green was sold.

After all, his parents met on campus in Athens, Ga. His sister, Caroline, will be a junior there this fall. And the family makes frequent pilgrimages to watch football games there.

Georgia was a given.

After meeting with Haack, Green conversed with his golfing buddy, Brian Harman of Savannah, Ga., the No. 1-ranked junior player in the country. Their close-knit friendship - which formed six years ago when the two began playing junior tournaments - grew tighter in April, when Green caddied for Harman in the MCI Heritage.

Harman encouraged his friend to take the offer. He later followed suit, also committing to Georgia.

And when the pair enrolls in the fall of 2005, Green knows making the team will be a challenge.

"We're going to have a team of 10 guys legit trying to make the travel squad," he said. "It's going to be tough just to travel."

Not if Green continues to play like he has this summer.

Green fired rounds of 70-70-68 to win last month's Georgia Junior Championship. He hit 48 of 54 greens for a five-shot victory at Augusta Country Club.

"I had probably three of the best ball-striking days," Green said, "and I couldn't make a putt."

He, along with fellow Augustans Rob Bennett and Ryan Blackburn, then helped Georgia win the Junior Challenge Match in Sea Island, Ga., last weekend.

Now, Green is looking to avenge his play in the hp Boys Junior Championship, where he missed the cut last year.

"I feel like I'm playing pretty good," he said. "I've been hitting the ball awesome all summer. It's just a matter of making some putts. If I can do that, I feel like I can win."

He will then try to qualify for the U.S. Amateur at The Oconee Club in Greensboro, Ga..

In preparation, Green continues to work on his short game, saying he spends 95 percent of his time putting. Brannen, who serves as Green's swing coach, continues to work with him.

But there's one thing Brannen doesn't have to work on - Green's on-course demeanor.

"You never see him upset," Brannen said. "That's the sign of a champion. And that's what you look for in a role model."

Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.