BOY DRIVING TOWARD SUCCESS : VALENCIA FIFTH-GRADER'S GOLF GAME TAKES HIM TO JAPAN, LANDS ROLE IN MOVIE.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

``How I Spent My Summer Vacation'' by Brandon Christianson: ``Competed in junior golf championship tournament in San Diego. Made a movie with Tom Cruise. Birdied to victory on the links in Japan.''

Bring on the fifth grade.

When class resumes today at Valencia Valley Elementary School, 10-year-old Brandon will have plenty of material for that traditional back-to-school essay, or at the very least for riveting conversation on the playground.

Over the three-day tournament last month outside Nagoya, Brandon shot four under par for the combined 54 holes to win the 10-and-under division of the sixth annual Japan Cup World Junior Golf Championships. His scores during the competition at the Fuji Country Shuga Club in Kani City were 71, 74 and 67 - the final day shooting five birdies to go with his low score.

The tournament sponsor, a Japanese broadcasting company, paid the air fare and a week's hotel accommodations for Brandon and his mother, Kathy. For winning in his age group, the freckle-face blond took home a glass loving cup and a handsome, weighty gold medal.

Half the age of golf phenom Tiger Woods, Brandon has been a quick study in the sport most often associated with doctors, retirees and the country club set. While soccer, skateboarding, baseball and roller hockey might be more popular pastimes for kids his age, Brandon seems to prefer ``the fresh air, the trees and the grass'' of a driving range, a putting green or an 18-hole course.

``It's fun and relaxing,'' he explained. ``I like watching the ball go far.''

To qualify for the Japanese tournament, Brandon had to place in the top three in his age group at another competition, the 29th annual Junior World Golf Championship in San Diego. More than 3,700 young golfers from 35 states and 37 countries tried to qualify for the July tournament, and Brandon was one of 860 boys and girls accepted in the tournament draw.

Tying for second in his age group in San Diego qualified Brandon for the August competition in Japan.

It was less than two years ago that Michael Christianson bought his son a set of kid-size golf clubs at Kmart. Brandon was already competing all over the country on the youth bicycle motocross circuit - a muddy, rough-and-tumble sport far afield from golf's refined image, where broken jaws and shattered collarbones are commonplace despite the helmets and pads the young riders wear.

Although Brandon never broke any bones or needed stitches as a result of his BMX racing, his parents have never had those worries during his golf competitions, Michael Christianson said. Besides, his clothes don't get nearly as dirty.

``It was a total switch for him . . . going to collared shirts and Docker shorts. He enjoys getting dressed up now,'' Michael Christianson said. ``There's never anybody in the sand trap who throws an elbow at him,'' the father joked.

Virtually every weekend, Brandon can watch PGA-sanctioned tournaments on television to learn the tricks used by the pros on the golf circuit, like his favorite, Phil Mickelson.

``He knows every type of shot. He's very aggressive and he has a good imagination,'' Brandon said. ``His ball might have just rolled into the water, but he'll flop it out.''

Les Johnson, teaching professional at Vista Valencia, has given Brandon golf lessons for the past 18 months.

Johnson said his young charge has the strength to hit long shots, the coordination to hit with precision, is eager to learn and is receptive to pointers to improve his game.

``He wanted to study every aspect of golf, from the jargon to the swing to how to handle himself on the golf course, and that's a great sign,'' Johnson said. ``He has the work ethic that you need to be good at the sport.''

Between practicing and playing in tournaments, Brandon answered a casting call for a young golfer in the upcoming Tom Cruise movie ``Jerry Maguire.'' His small part involved only a few days on the set at Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena but, alas, no screen time with Cruise, who plays a sports agent.

His character had no scripted dialogue, only some ad-libbing in a role that called for Brandon to miss some shots and throw a tantrum. ``I chucked my putter,'' he said.

At $540 per day, that's not a bad gig for a kid who is still nearly two months shy of his 11th birthday.

But flubbing shots is not the norm for the grade-school kid who already has five hole-in-ones to his credit. The first came on a 125-yard seventh hole at Vista Valencia Golf Course on Sept. 30. Brandon repeated that feat on the course's fourth hole Feb. 25, and then sunk three hole-in-ones in May at the same San Diego golf course where he competed in the junior tournament, Michael Christianson said.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color in SAC only) Brandon Christianson, 10,won first place in his age division last month at the Japan Cup World Junior Golf Championships in Kuni City, Japan.

(2--ran in SAC only--color) Brandon Christianson will appear in a Tom Cruise film, ``Jerry Maguire.''

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News