​Chaz Zitzner found one of those long-running grooves on Monday, June 29, in a way that keeps weekend golfers searching and rarely finding. At the U.S. Kids Golf Ohio State Championship this week, the 12-year-old fired a 9-under-par 63 over 5,550 yards at Avalon Lakes Golf Club in Warren. He followed it the next day with a 70, but the 63 was more than enough to win the 12-year-old division by three strokes at 11-under par. “When you shoot a 63 obviously everything was working,” Zitzner said. “I wasn’t pressing; it just happened. I was hitting a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, and I was making putts.”
Zitzner has come close to winning this event in the past two years, including once when he was tied for the lead with six holes left before rain halted the round, reducing the scores to 27 holes and denying him the title. Still, he has other victories in U.S. Kids events and across the country, including the Canadian Invitational and a Michigan tournament in recent years that draw top players. He holds the highest level of status in U.S. Kids events and can enter any tournament they offer.
Chaz leaves Saturday for San Diego to compete in the IMG World Championships, a tournament he didn’t need to qualify for. He began playing in tournaments at age six and now competes in about 20 a year. The passion started at five after he watched the Netflix documentary Short Game about kids competing in world championships, and he told his dad Brad he wanted to join in. Brad, who considers himself a recreational golfer, took Chaz to the driving range a month before his sixth birthday. “He was drawn to it from a very young age,” Brad said. “I wasn’t trying to push golf. I was more into baseball, but when we went to the range, I knew he’d be different with golf.”
Chaz’s golf journey has led him to courses even weekend golfers dream of. He finished fifth in the Drive, Chip and Putt finals in 2025 at Augusta National, home of the Masters. He’s also made many friends who travel to the same events, and he plays in team events with a group based out of Scioto Country Club in Columbus. “It’s really cool to play with all these people and see them at a lot of tournaments,” Chaz said.
He’s entering seventh grade this year, looking forward to playing for the Kenton Ridge High School team in 2028 and continuing to be coached by Jake Houston, the head pro at Springfield Country Club, and Chris Yoder, his Scioto team coach. For now, he’ll keep traveling, playing, and practicing. He drives the ball about 240 yards, but he says his strength is his approach game. Yet there’s always one part of golf that needs work: putting. “Probably putting,” he admitted. “I’m getting good speeds, but nothing seems to drop.”