On the fast track

Watch out for the kid in the hat. He just might be the next big thing in golf.

Eleven-year-old Kristopher Douglass' goal is to be just like his idol Tiger Woods. But if this summer is any indication, Woods might want to watch his back. Douglass won 10 tournaments, recorded his first hole-in-one, and took home 11 trophies overall, including the Atlanta Junior Golf Association Player of the Year.

His reputation has justifiably earned him two nicknames around town.

"I'm either known as 'Mini-Tiger' or 'the kid in the hat,' " he said.

He began wearing his khaki Tilly hat to protect his face from the sun after a bicycle accident left a scar. The scar is gone, but the hat is quickly becoming his signature.

"Everybody wears 'Tiger hats.' They dress up like Tiger," he said. "I'm a little different. I wear this hat."

Though he said he likes to be himself, Douglass draws several parallels between himself and Woods.

"His dad work(ed) (with him) just like my dad. My mom is Asian, like his mom. Dad is in the Army, like his dad. Practice a long time, have fun, love golf, want to be the best. (But) Tiger's, I think, a little taller than me," he said.

Douglass started golf at age 4. His dad, Mark Douglass, often went to the course with his friends, so his curious son asked his mother what golf was. Because his mom didn't know how to explain the game, she asked her husband to show him.

"I went out (to the golf course) and he noticed that I had a lot of talent. That's when I got started," said Douglass, who is a sixth grader at Lakeside Middle School.

Douglass has lived in Germany and Korea, and would come to the United States to compete, which he said he did several times a year. He would only make the trip for the bigger tournaments.

But it was while he was living in Germany that Douglass finally got to meet his idol.

He got knocked down while waiting for an autograph at the SAP Open. A security guard helped him to his feet, then helped him get Woods' autograph.

Douglass spends most of his time at his home course at Jones Creek Golf Club in Evans, which is literally across the street from his home. Like most area golfers, he'd love a chance to play Augusta National Golf Club. But he has gotten to go to the Augusta National to watch the Masters Tournament once.

"The ground, the grass and everything. ... you could just sleep on it. It's kind of like a carpet," he said.

Douglass said his favorite course is at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Fla., which was also the site of his first tournament.

The first time he played the course there, he said, he rallied from a 15-stroke deficit to win.

"It was like a record they had, a 15-stroke comeback. I don't know how that happened. I played and it all formed together."

But that's what he loves about the game.

"Every hole is different. You don't know what's going to happen. It just happens."