Whiz Kid: Mike Christie

Name: Mike Christie

Age: 16

School:

Accomplishment: Mike Christie was the only member of the Royal Oak High School golf team to advance to regional competition this year – and he did it as a sophomore.

Even though Christie has been playing golf most of his life, since he was 3 or 4 years old, playing in the regionals earlier this month was challenging.

“It was very nerve wracking. The first tee was very rough,” Christie said of playing in the highly competitive Division 1 regional match on June 9 at Lyons Oaks Golf Course in Wixom.

Unfortunately, Christie didn’t advance to the state competition but he maintained a positive attitude about it.

“It was a really good experience,” the Royal Oak resident said. “Making it as a sophomore will give me good experience for the next two years.”

Christie’s coach, Vince Caruso, was proud of his Raven. “He had a rough day and he didn't do well, but it was a tough course,” Caruso said of the regional match.

Caruso is also impressed.  “He’s improved since last year by four or five strokes,” the coach said of the Ravens season. “He had the best average score of the team and I know his score counted in 90 percent of our matches.”

Key to awesomeness: Caruso thinks a lot of Christie, whom he named captain of the nine-person team early in the season even though he was only a sophomore. (He was later joined by co-captain Alek Bashi.)  “I told the kids, ‘Follow the rules and show me you can be a leader’ and he emerged right away, early in the season,” Caruso said.

For the season, Christie was named an All-League performer (one of 15 boys in Royal Oak’s division) and won the Ravens' MVP award.

Christie comes from a golfing family. His dad, Chuck, played golf in college and Christie also plays on a club team at Red Run Golf Club, where he gets lots of practice.

“Mike’s a super great kid,” Caruso said. “He’s probably one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet in your life. A real gentleman.”

The Ravens coach also raved about Christie’s work ethic and temperament. “He doesn’t get frustrated or upset; he takes everything in stride.”

Believe it or not, golf isn’t Christie’s only passion. His love for the links is rivaled by his hankering for hockey. Christie decided to sit out this past hockey season but is pretty sure he’ll play again this year. Which sport is his favorite? “It swings with the season,” he said with a laugh.

Update

Mike reports that on Tuesday playing some of the best golfers at the club in a father-son event at Red Run he and his dad beat all the other duos. As far as anyone knows, it's the first time anyone from the 15-17 years old age group took the top prize, Mike said. Congrats!

Do you know our next Whiz Kid?

Know a great kid who made Eagle Scout? How about a school group that worked on a project for charity? Did your local soccer team take the championship? They may be our next Patch Whiz Kid honorees.

Royal Oak Patch seeks suggestions for individual children, youth groups, teens and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. We select one each week as the Patch Whiz Kid. Submit your nomination in our comment box below or e-mail the information to Beth.Valone@Patch.com. Be sure to include all of the following information:

• Nominator's name
• Whiz Kid's name, age and school
• Whiz Kid's accomplishment
• Whiz Kid's key to awesomeness (what made him/her successful?)
• Whiz Kid photo