Family Links
For Member Sophie Leviton, the 19th Hole helps her build golf skills and family bonds.
When I was 5, my grandpa needed a golf partner, so he decided to teach me how to play. He tells me that he didn’t really give me a choice.
But that’s OK because I’ve always enjoyed sports. I was athletic even as a little kid, so I picked up the feel for the swing quickly.
My grandpa—he’s Jerry Rosenberg; so many golfers at the Club know him—has been teaching me for eight years now. He says that you couldn’t spend your time in a better way than golfing with your 72-year-old grandfather. I think that’s true most of the time.
One of the most fun parts of playing golf for me is going out on the course with him. That and competing against others. One summer, we went to America, to North Carolina, and played at a camp against other people my age and their parents or grandparents. That was really fun.
But while we love to go out on the course together, it isn’t easy to do in Tokyo. I’m busy at school, for one thing, so when I finish, it is already the afternoon. It takes time to get out to the course, so we would have to start late, and many courses don’t really want kids out there.
This is why I love the 19th Hole. I can come here in just 15 minutes from my school, Nishimachi, and the golf simulator gives me a way to improve and to spend time practicing with my grandpa. We meet after school and spend an hour together using the golf simulator. It really helps me work on my game, and the system gives so much data. It tracks everything about my swing and the ball flight—even putting—and my grandpa watches that and gives me tips based on what the tracking system is showing.
I like the challenge of improving like this, so that when I’m on the course, I can play better. Because you can’t do it over if you mess up in golf. I play other sports at school, like basketball, soccer and volleyball, but golf is different. It isn’t a team sport, for one thing, so it is up to you. But also, you only get one chance per stroke and a few shots per hole. In basketball, for example, if you miss, you have a lot more chances. In golf, you have to be really accurate. Grandpa says that it’s often you against the course when you are out there.
Playing on a real course is definitely a lot of fun though. And it’s different. In the simulator, the ground is always flat. Of course, it isn’t on a course. There, you can feel that you’re actually playing golf. You’re doing what pros are doing. A course is better for playing, but here is better for practicing.
I also like the simulator because I don’t really have a lot of friends or know younger kids who would just play like I do. If I went to the golf course where I sometimes play, all the kids are very serious and very competitive. I don’t really want to be so serious yet, so I can enjoy myself here at the Club.
As told to INTOUCH’s C Bryan Jones.
Top image of Sophie Leviton and Jerry Rosenberg: Kayo Yamawaki
October 2022
