PROVO — A lot of people assume that golf should come easy to Timpview's Tommy Forsman.
After all, he is the son of Dan Forsman, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour. Also, his mother, the former Trudy Holley of Springville, comes from a golfing family. The Holleys have been walking the fairways of Riverside Country Club for almost four decades. Trudy's brother Jerry is a golf pro in Las Vegas. So, naturally, golf should be in Tommy's blood.
But until three years ago, none of that seemed to matter much to the Thunderbirds senior. Riding dirt bikes was much more interesting than hitting drives or sinking birdie putts. For almost all of his youth he didn't even play golf, and had no interest in becoming a golfer.
"I liked doing other things, and my dad really never pushed me to play," Tommy said, now captain of the T-Birds golf team. "But people think that he made me this way, but honestly, he really didn't care if I did something else other than golf."
What changed the younger Forsman's outlook on golf was a trip he took with his father to the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in New York. There he met many of golf's greats — including Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson. The life of a professional golfer suddenly looked pretty exciting.
"That experience sort of opened his eyes," Dan Forsman said.
Son agrees that the trip on tour with Dad was the spark that ignited his passion for golf. That spark has now become a raging flame.
"I just took it up and fell in love with the game. It's addicting," Tommy said.
Even though Tommy hasn't been pushed to be a devoted golfer, he's certainly been exposed to all aspects of the game. That's probably why when he finally did decide to take up the game, he showed rapid improvement as a new player.
"Obviously it helps by being around golf so much and seeing what it's all about," said the elder Forsman, who often walks the fairways during his son's golf matches. "But he learned quickly that it takes a lot of effort to be a good player."
Initially, Tommy hesitated to even play competitively. He wasn't even sure he wanted to be on Timpview's team as a sophomore. When he finally relented, however, he contributed almost immediately. Last year, he was one of Region 7's best as a junior, and this year he's even better. With two matches remaining, Tommy is only two shots behind in the region's overall medalist race. His 70 was the low score at a match at Hobble Creek, and he's shot higher than 75 only twice this year.
Still, he feels like his game can even get better and his scores even lower. He believes some really low numbers are just around the corner.
"It's all right there," Tommy said. "I feel like I'm really close to shooting some low numbers. I just need to work on things mentally and keep working on my short game."
His dad added: "He hasn't really shot that really low number that will let him know that he can shoot those numbers, but I think it's coming."
Even now, as a competitive player, the Timpview teen doesn't lean on his father's golf expertise as much as people would expect. Dan doesn't tinker with Tommy's swing at all and wants him to develop through his natural ability and desire.
"He'll give me a thought, but I'm really just figuring things out on my own. But it is nice to have him there to ask him things when I need to," the younger Forsman said.
Recently, Dan asked his son if he was enjoying the game and having fun playing high school golf. The answer he received was a no-hesitation "yes."
"I think that's the thing I'm most proud of and the thing that gives me the most satisfaction," Dan said. "I want him to enjoy what he's doing."
Down the road, Tommy is hoping to play golf at the next level. He'd love to play at Arizona State University, the school where his father starred almost three decades ago. If that doesn't work out, or if he needs to play at a smaller school first, he'd jump on the chance to play for Utah Valley University. But his golf goals are much loftier than simply being a college golfer.
"However long it takes me, I want to play on the tour. I don't practice every day just to play college golf. Hopefully all that practice will pay off and someday I'll make it on tour. My dad is a great player, but I think I can be just as good someday," he said.
For now, however, Tommy's sights are set on the tasks at hand. First, he wants to help the T-Birds challenge Springville for the Region 7 title and individually win the league medalist. Second, he'd like to see his team challenge for the state title and himself be in the chase for state medalist.
"We have five very good players and we're the best team that Timpview's had for 12 years. I think we can win state."
E-mail: jimr@desnews.com