On a sunny day in early winter, 2008, young golf prodigy Karl Vilips drove a ball 140 metres, arrow straight. When returning the club to his golf bag, he topped it with a stuffed tiger head cover, a replica of his idol’s.
“My favourite golf player is Tiger Woods,” Vilips, then 6 and with a handicap of 45, told Today Tonight.
Karl Vilips, aged eight with his dad Paul.Credit: Fairfax Archives
Earlier this month, Vilips, now age 23, won the Puerto Rico Open and opened his phone to find a voicemail from his childhood hero.
“I was scrolling through who was texting me and there was one from a random number … and then there was a voicemail saying it was Tiger,” said Vilips.
“I couldn’t process it in the moment – I’ll get back to that … but it’s pretty cool.”
Known as “Koala Karl”, Vilips’ momentous win at the Puerto Rico Open – in just his fourth PGA Tour tournament, makes him one of a select few to find success so early.
But it wasn’t always easy for Vilips, who was born in Jakarta and moved to Australia with his father, Paul, as an infant.
He showed an early knack for golf, first picking up a plastic club when he was two and progressing to a couple of metal clubs when he was four. Six-year-old Vilips competed at the junior world championships with a half-set of clubs – competing against kids with custom kids clubs – and finished seventh.
To get his first proper set of irons, his dad took him to the local golf shop, where a set of TaylorMade irons cost $1000. There was also a bin of second-hand golf balls for sale.
“My dad asked him [the salesman] how many balls you had to … collect to have enough to get the irons. So basically, like a barter-trade,” Vilips said in a 2015 YouTube video.
Eight-year-old Vilips was already a junior world champion. Credit: Fairfax Archives
“The guy at the desk told us that it would be about 3000 golf balls to get the TaylorMade irons.
Every night the father and son would put on their backpacks and trawl through the bushes at a West Australian golf course and pick up more than 100 balls.
“And it only took us a month or two to get those 3000 golf balls.”
This diligence and hard work is what has propelled Vilips from a child prodigy to breaking the Puerto Rico Open scoring record, said Brad James, Golf Australia’s general manager of high performance.
It separates him from other talented young golfers who burn out before ever becoming professionals.
“I think what sort of separates Karl is that he not only has physical talent but probably his biggest talent is his work ethic and his love for the game,” said James, who first saw Vilips when he was 10 years old, competing in the Callaway world junior competition.
James also said Vilips’ dad has been “a really good support system over the years”.
Paul nurtured Vilips’ skills, challenging him to play on a variety of courses, but not putting undue stress on his son, often concealing the prizemoney on offer at junior tournaments to take pressure off. Father and son moved from Perth to the east coast when Vilips was young, looking for better golfing opportunities.
It proved to be a masterstroke, and Vilips won the junior world championship at ages seven, nine, 10 and 12.
As a 14-year-old, Vilips went to board at an athletic prep school in Florida, leaving Australia behind and spending 10 months of the year away from home. He received a scholarship to Stanford University, a top golfing college, and then realised his dream of becoming a pro golfer.
Vilips’ hard work paid ultimate dividends when he entered the final day of the Puerto Rico Open with a one stroke advantage and closed out the tournament at eight-under par.
Vilips trailed for the first time after a 12th hole bogey on a difficult back nine. But he fought back with three consecutive birdies and told reporters after his win that “the putter got hot this week”.
James said to stay calm in that situation “shows tremendous courage”.
Karl Vilips of Australia poses with the winner’s trophy.Credit: Getty Images
Vilips was awarded a trophy, $US720,000 prizemoney (about $1.15 million) and, crucially, a two-year exemption for the PGA Tour, meaning he has guaranteed access to all full-field PGA Tour events. This is perhaps the most valuable prize, said James.
“That victory has allowed him to secure a job for the next two years.”
“And the platform to learn from Jason Day, Adam Scott, those type of people … you can’t replicate those types of opportunities.”
A lot could happen in the next five to 15 years, James said, if Vilips continues on his current trajectory.
“We hope that upside continues and he goes on to become one of Australia’s best golfers ever.”
