Ronan's Foust will play in Junior World Championship

RONAN — William Foust of Ronan will play the biggest rounds of golf of his life July 12-16 at the famous Torrey Pines in San Diego, CA when he will face off against the world's best junior golfers in the Junior World Championship.

Foust, a 16-year-old rising junior at Ronan High School, qualified for the Callaway Junior World Championship by placing second in a qualifier in Whitefish early this summer. Foust knew he would have a chance to go to San Diego if he could shoot under par in Whitefish. He finished before the rest of the field and had to wait to see if anyone would tie his score or beat him and spoil his chances of going to California. Once he found out that his scored held, he was over come with joy.

"I was pretty excited about it. I have never qualified for a national tournament before," said Foust. "I knew I would have to shoot under par to go to San Diego."

Foust is no stranger to success in the golf. As a freshman at Ronan High School he placed second in the state and finished in the top fifteen as a sophomore.

"He has done pretty well for himself in tournaments," said his mother, Barbara.

Foust stumbled into golf after his parents sent him to a golf camp at Mission Mountain Country Club in Ronan. Foust and his best friend, Mike Wolf, attended the camp together at the age of eight. Foust spent two weeks at the junior golf camp learning the basic skills of golf.

"I didn't really think the camp would be that fun. I liked skating with my brothers," Foust said.

Eight years later Foust will play in his biggest tournament. Historic Torrey Pines is scheduled to be the site of the U.S. Open in 2008 and soon Foust can say he has played on the famous course.

Chris Nowlen, head golf pro at Mission Mountain Country Club, has been Foust's coach for the past two years. Nowlen will not be able to travel with Foust to Torrey Pines because of the Tim Ryan Tourney next weekend, but he has been working with Foust on his swing and mental game before the trip.

"This year he has started hitting the ball well and doing really well this spring. He finds a way to get up and down," said Nowlen.

Since Nowlen can't make the trip, Foust asked Silver Fox pro Mark Cordier to make the trip with him. Cordier welcomed the idea of taking the trip down to sunny San Diego to help out an up-and-coming valley golfer. Cordier has know Foust since the third grade when he was his physical education teacher. Foust gets most of his swing tips from Cordier and is excited about the two traveling together.

Foust has been doing his homework on Torrey Pines by looking around on the Web and reading everything he can.

"They have Bermuda grass which is harder to hit out of. It will be my first time on this type of grass. It's deep and it's almost impossible to get out of," Foust said.

Foust averages about 275 yards per drive with his Cleveland 400 Launcher driver and hits about 11 greens in regulation per round. His established handicap is scratch and was last at .4. That's right, point four.

The trip to southern California is not free. Foust and his mother estimate it will cost him $1,800 for lodging, air fare, food and everything else. To raise money Foust has been selling raffle tickets for rounds of golf from different courses in the Northwest Montana area. The courses donated the rounds to help him, and his family has also set-up an account at the Community Bank if people wish to donate.

When William's mother looks back to that year he attended the summer camp she couldn't have imagined that eight years later he would be playing against the world's best junior golfers.

"He has been so dedicated to golf. He loves it, it's his life," said Barbara.

Not only can Foust keep the ball in the fairway, but he also holds down a 3.8 GPA at Ronan High School, is a member of the National Honor Society, an avid snow skier and plays drums for the jazz band. His dream is to play golf at a Division I college in a warm area.

"After college it would be nice to keep climbing the golf ladder," said Foust.

Foust will be representing Montana and the United States at the World Championships. Folks interested in tracking his progress can "watch" him live during play by visiting www.juniorworldgolf.com.