Jeffrey Guan is no ordinary Aussie teenage golf star. Inspired by Ben Hogan, he believes any future success he has is as much about the power of the mind as it is about the power of his swing.
So, put yourself in his shoes, if you can.
Jeffrey Guan had begun the final round of the 2021 Australian Amateur at a tournament-primed Kooyonga a country mile adrift of homegrown leader – and soon-to-be professional – Jack Thompson, who was thought to be unassailable on familiar Adelaide soil.
Eventual champion, Louis Dobbelaar, was several groups behind New South Welshman Guan. At first the pair chiselled then later bulldozed their way into the contest as Thompson experienced what would become a terminal case of closing nerves.
Remarkably, by the time Guan stood on the 17th tee of one of Australia’s great tournament courses, the chasing duo were equal leaders, despite having started seven (Guan) and five (Dobbelaar) off the pace.
As you picture this, know that Guan at the time was newly a Year 11 student at Endeavour Sports High School in Sydney’s southern suburbs, a tender albeit advanced 16-year-old who’d not long been playing pennants for his adopted club, The Australian.
He was also fresh from having chipped in on the 15th, then pitching close enough for a second consecutive birdie on the 16th.
So, imagine the adrenaline coursing through a seasoned professional, let alone someone who’d rarely been interviewed before the week began.
From here, it’s going to be slightly harder to empathise.
He pumped a 280-metre drive over the rise that leaked down to the right side of the 17th fairway, which is precisely where Guan left behind any evidence of a precocious, daredevil and talented teen in the rear-vision mirror.
The pin was cut in its ‘Sunday’ spot, on the right side that brings into play water, front and right of a green that slopes wickedly from back left to front right. For reference, it would be the same pond that would soon rinse two Thompson Titleists, along with any faint hopes of a comeback.
Guan looked away from the pin and, truth be told, while he might have slightly over-clubbed in his excited state, he was unlucky that it didn’t grip on the first bounce and hopped into the cavernous bunker that eats into the back of the green.
“But as a young bloke, he has that Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley, Matt Jones ability that catches your eye." – Jeffrey Guan's coach, Gary Barter.
Dobbelaar still had a handful of “birdieable” holes to come, so surely Guan just flat out “goes for it” from this bunker. Surely.
But youthful exuberance be damned!
Knowing that 30cm too much weight on any blast towards the hole would inevitably mean his ball would trickle down into a watery grave, Guan played away from the flag.
It’s the perfect snapshot of what separates this prodigious talent from his peers – the ability above his shoulders is that of a seasoned veteran; that ability to distance himself from the magnitude of the moment.
By shooting away from the pin, you could argue Guan forewent his best shot at victory in the moment. But looking at the big picture, he’ll win a truckload more cash as a future professional by taking the double-bogey (and worse) off the table.
Naturally, he still had a chance at par – in this instance from about six metres – and even though it went narrowly unrewarded, those few who saw his choices knew they’d just witnessed something completely different to the normal “crash and bash” of elite amateur competition.
For many, this might be your introduction to Jeffrey Guan – he’s happy to be called Jeff and some of his Golf New South Wales teammates have taken to “Guany”.
He’s a softly spoken but fiercely determined now 18-year-old who has spent a couple of months this year testing his mettle against the world’s best amateurs on the American scene. It will come as a surprise to almost all should he nab the PGA’s Kirkwood Cup or Stonehaven Cup at the Australian Open in 2022, but there are many good judges who’ll be equally as surprised if he doesn’t pocket at least one of them in the future.
He’s the son of Ken Guan and Yuki Zhou, but the golfing product of revered Sydney PGA professional Glenn WhIttle and, more recently, the multiple award-winning coach Gary Barter, the director of teaching at The Australian Golf Club.
Barter, for years among the best PGA coaches in the nation, is also regarded as having one of the best eyes in the business, having played with, seen and/or mentored the best for almost three decades, including the reigning and dual Australian Open champ Matt Jones.
He has skin in the game with Guan, but he’s also not prone to outrageous commentary, especially knowing the impact stray words can have on would-be professionals’ mental approach.
So, when he opens up about his young charge, it’s certainly well worth noting.
“He’s a one-in-10-year type of talent,” Barter says.
“That’s absolutely not to say he’ll go on to be that as a touring professional.
“But as a young bloke, he has that Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley, Matt Jones ability that catches your eye.
“In terms of Jeffrey as a player, he’s a little like Cameron Smith in that he doesn’t have a standout feature in his game, but equally he just doesn’t have a weakness.
“The player that he actually reminds me of, not in terms of swing or striking specifically, is actually Craig Parry. I used to play with `Paz’ as a junior and at all these tournaments we used to play, the vibe was he wasn’t much to look at – until you saw his scorecard. And we all know what Parry went on to do …
“Sometimes people forget what tournament golf is all about – it’s that scorecard, nothing else. You don’t have to swing it like Adam Scott, but you have to get it in the hole like him.
“And I think that’s what Jeffrey does extremely well for someone his age and stage.”
Barter, with years of wisdom, would never say Guan – or the next big thing after him – is a “can’t-miss” proposition. But he is prepared to say he’s a “must-watch” attraction, especially for the next generation trying to find that X-factor.
“What Jeffrey does better than just about everyone is he’s very unemotional,” Barter says. “He plays with a wise head on young shoulders. He’s a great thinker about his game, particularly on the course … but you won’t know if he’s just hit a good shot or a bad shot, he’s already thinking about the next one and the one after that.
“There are bigger hitters, people who might have a better short game … but at his age, he’s still learning plenty, but (already) he’s a pretty complete package who is exceptional mentally.
“Of course, I hope he goes on with it, but only time will tell. But he’s in a pretty good position right now as an 18-year-old.”
Guan’s burgeoning resume will back up that assessment.
His first victory for 2022 came in the U.S at the Adam Scott Junior Championship where he streeted a quality field by eight strokes. Six weeks later, he shot 67 in the final round to win the Australian Boys’ Amateur title by four strokes and join Adam Scott, Ryan Ruffels and New Zealand’s Grant Waite as the only back-to-back winners of that championship.
When he headed back to the U.S in July there were top-five finishes at the Trans-Mississippi Amateur and the U.S Junior Amateur.
So, another example of Barter’s assessment – not to mention the other great talent around Sydney – is the reaction Guan had to being left out of the NSW team for the 2022 Interstate Series, held for the first time with reduced (and mixed gender) team lists.
While some thought him unlucky, Guan himself understood the Golf NSW rationale and took it squarely on the chin.
“It wasn’t really a shock, no. I hadn’t been playing like I should have before they picked the team, so it was all right,” Guan said.
“It just taught me to put myself into more of a focus mode, knowing there are other good players around me (and that) if I want to be picked, I need to shoot better scores, I need more hard work and dedication.”
You’re probably starting to form a picture about why Guan is different – but ponder this to help cement the image.
If you asked 100 aspiring golf stars for their favourite player, you’d imagine 99 of the answers would come back as Tiger, Rory, Karrie or Minjee. Maybe there’d be a throwback to Greg, Seve or even Jack among them. Maybe.
Guan’s is Ben Hogan, revered as one of the game’s great ball-strikers, but perhaps even more so as arguably its greatest thinker. And the one thing that holds the nine-time major champ so high in Guan’s main frame is that thought process: “The most important shot in golf is the next one.”
Guan has learnt plenty travelling, at times by himself, around the United States this year, arguably highlighted by a quarter-final appearance at the U.S Junior Amateur when he lost on the 20th hole to Eric Lee, then the No.1 player in the American Junior Golf Association rankings.
“Obviously it would have been good to keep going and get through him, but we were playing at Bandon Dunes and I didn’t arrive there until registration day … so didn’t get a chance to look at some of the pins they set up which were pretty crazy,” he said with a coy giggle.
“I was two-under through 10 holes against him, but he was seven-under and I was six-down. I won six of the last seven holes to (get to extra holes) then lipped out on the low side with a putt on the 19th hole (that would have won the match).
“Then he hit a hybrid and holed a 60-footer up over a ridge on the 20th hole to win it … it was going so fast, but it just hit the pin and dropped and that was it.”
“That’s the risk-reward (nature) of match play, and he got it … that time.
“That was my first USGA event – there were a lot of really good golfers around that I hadn’t heard of coming in, so I’ll be better (for the run).”
Guan is unsure what this summer and beyond will hold, with discussion continuing around his medium-term plans, especially after his enjoyable experience in the USA. He only knows that the priority is to finish his education at Endeavour in the heart of the ‘Shire’.
“I might try to play Q-schools when I can … but otherwise I might have a gap year (from education), play as much (amateur golf) as I can, and go to a college in August 2024.”
Naturally he wants to be the best as soon as he can, but you can sense he knows the wisdom in his golf comes from a solid family base that has left him in no rush.
He’s been working on his game, including adding up to 40 metres off the tee in the past year to regularly reach the 300-metre barrier, but again, he’s doing other things off the course to build that base, too.
“I’ve started going to the gym more, probably five times a week and working on basic golf movements and mobility,” Guan said.
“The more repetition I get in, the more power I’m getting. It’s actually pretty cool.”
So, what are Guan’s targets inside his
agile mind?
“I have them, but I wouldn’t say they’re expectations – I don’t want to pressure myself into doing that, I just want to figure it out and then play to my ability.
“I don’t really listen to what others say about my game, or their expectations. If that’s what they believe for me, they can go ahead.
“But it’s really up to me if I can do it and put in that hard work.
“But yes, I believe (in myself). You (have) got to believe, right?
“I’ll just keep banking experiences and moving on. I can’t control other scores, so I don’t worry about others too much; just as long as I play well. I’ll be happy.”
Related Articles
New schedule and name confirmed for NextGen Amateur Tour
World Exclusive: Trump’s Indonesian Tee-off
