FAMILY APPROACH GOLF IN THE BLOOD OF DELIO, SAUGUS FRESHMAN-TO-BE.Byline: Heather Gripp Gripp talking raven, beloved pet of half-wit Barnaby Rudge. [Br. Lit.: Dickens Barnaby Rudge] See : Birds Staff Writer If the scores were higher than usual, Dominic Dominic hound who travels widely. [Children’s Lit.: Dominic] See : Dogs Delio would have understood. He expected more than a typical challenge for his son Nick, who was playing on a La Purisima golf course being upgraded for a professional tournament there the following week. However, the younger Delio hardly seemed fazed faze tr.v. fazed, faz·ing, faz·es To disrupt the composure of; disconcert. See Synonyms at embarrass. [Middle English fesen, to drive away, frighten as he shot a 75 and 73 and won the two-day tournament. Challenging Nick Delio has become increasingly difficult as he's he's 1. Contraction of he is: He's going to school today. 2. Contraction of he has: He's already been to the museum. soared through the ranks of junior golf with numerous accolades. The 14-year-old will try to add Foothill League honors to the list in the spring as a freshman for Saugus High, but before that he has the California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). Junior tour tournament championship in December. ``He's been doing real well,'' said Dominic Delio, who also serves as Nick's coach. An invitation to the junior event is based on points earned throughout the year. Delio is near the top of the list of 12- to 14-year-olds after two first-place finishes Noun 1. first-place finish - a finish in first place (as in a race) win - a victory (as in a race or other competition); "he was happy to get the win" and a second-place in his past three tournaments. Delio's latest victory was two weeks ago at the tournament at La Purisima. He has been playing junior events nearly half his life. His introduction to the sport was more about spending time "Spending Time" is the first single released by Christian artist Stellar Kart. The lyrics describe the band members desire to spend "more time with God". "Sometimes it’s a real struggle to spend time with God. with his dad than competing. ``He started tagging along with me,'' Dominic said. ``He was really good at chipping and putting when he was little. He obviously couldn't hit it real far, but he was good at the chipping and putting. It kind of started like that.'' By the time he was 8, Delio was playing competitively. He barely was as tall as his golf bag, but he didn't take long to produce big results. Among his early highlights was a seventh-place finish in the 9/10-year-old division of the 2000 Junior World Championships in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. a year after placing 13th. ``At 10 and 11, I was nervous every tournament,'' Delio said. ``But I'm not really anymore because I'm so used to it.'' He grew up playing a variety of sports but fell in love with golf enough to give them up, preferring the individual nature and strategy of golf. An affinity for the game runs in the family. Delio's father is an avid AVID Cardiology A clinical trial–Antiarrhythmics Versus Implantable Defibrillators that compared the effect of implantable defibrillators vs the best medical therapy–antiarrhythmics for survivors of MI or those with nonsustained ventricular tachycardia golfer and another family member is a golf pro. Their feel for the game apparently rubbed off on Delio, who hasn't taken lessons. ``He was kind of a natural,'' Dominic Delio said. ``I showed him a few things, but most of it came on his own. He's never really taken lessons because it comes so naturally for him. ... I don't really mess around with him much. He hits the ball pretty solid and knows what he's doing.'' A lack of size is one of the few drawbacks for the 5-foot-2, 110-pound Delio, although he has gotten strong enough that he can usually drive the ball at least 240 yards. He is not intimidated in·tim·i·date tr.v. in·tim·i·dat·ed, in·tim·i·dat·ing, in·tim·i·dates 1. To make timid; fill with fear. 2. To coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats. by the prospect of competing against older players in high school. After all, he remembers how he used to do against his older brother. ``I used to beat him all the time,'' Delio said. Heather Gripp, (818) 713-3607 heather.gripp(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Nick Delio is a natural in golf, a sport that runs in his family. The 14-year-old will be a freshman at Saugus in the fall. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer |
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