There are small holes dug into Axel Smith’s front yard, each one lined with a flower pot cut down to size. Axel asked for them at age 8, shortly after he started playing golf with Special Olympics Virginia.
“He was like, ‘My short putt and my long putt is not good,’” said his mom, Chloe Pennington. “‘I got to practice at home.’” So the family grabbed their shovels and started digging.
Nobody else in Axel’s family plays golf, and when he picked it from the list of sports, Chloe was sure he would be bored out of his mind. Now 9 years old and in his second season, Axel describes the sport in his own words: “Golf is my life.”
Getting started
When Coach Steve LaFountain first met Axel, he noticed how small he was and wondered whether the team even had clubs his size. The smallest ones reached almost to Axel’s chin, so the coaches searched online until they found a set that fit.
Axel learned quickly, and Steve was impressed by how fast he picked up the game. Axel still uses a baseball grip, which Steve allows because it works. Once Axel mastered the basics, Steve started teaching him the finer points of a real golf swing, like where to place his feet and the ball.
Steve says Axel listens closely and takes in everything he is taught. He believes that moving up to Level 2 and playing nine holes is a realistic goal within a year or two, once Axel grows and gains more distance.
His routine
Chloe is learning the game from her son. At the Sleepy Hole tournament in Suffolk this fall, she tried to help him choose a club, but neither she nor the volunteer knew which one to pick. “Axel’s like, ‘Oh, this one,’” Chloe said. “And he was right.”
Before every swing, Axel follows a routine from Steve that he calls “checking his boxes.” He sets the club down behind the ball, lines up his feet, hands and body, takes a deep breath, brings the club back slowly and powers through. Axel has also added his own personal touches by fixing his feet, adjusting his hips and giving his arms a little shimmy.
The routine is paying off. Last season, Axel couldn’t chip a single ball over the net, while at Sleepy Hole he was one of the few athletes in his group to get all five over, and he has already taken first place in his division.
Finding his place
Axel is the youngest of three kids and the quiet one in the family. His sister dances and his brother tries every sport he can, so Chloe wanted Axel to find something that belonged to him. Steve understands why golf is a good fit, since a small kid isn’t going to drive a baseball into the outfield next to players twice his size. “Golf is the great equalizer,” he said.
Axel has autism, and he tends to keep his feelings and reactions to himself, so people don’t always see what he is going through. Chloe wondered how he would fit in with his teammates. “You’re like, okay, are we enough to belong?” she said.
At Axel’s second practice, fellow golf athlete Kelly Bradshaw greeted him by name, which surprised Chloe and showed her that her son mattered to his teammates. Now Kelly and Aiden Mitchell say hi to Axel at every practice.
Axel isn’t much of a hugger, so he has learned to speak up when a teammate goes in for one. He has also learned to let some people in, sometimes shooting his mom a quick look before deciding to just let the hug happen.
At practice
On the course, Axel doesn’t talk much with the other kids, although he doesn’t shy away from them either, and he simply does his own thing while his dad stands right behind him at every station. Some days the sillies hit, and Axel starts swinging for the fences. Steve calls these “squirrel moments,” explains that every kid has them and gently steers Axel back on track without making a big deal out of it.
At home, Axel is speaking up more often. Recently, he put on every medal he owns and paraded through the house, telling his mom they sounded like bells. Looking ahead “I’m just scared that he’s gonna be looked over because he masks and makes himself small and he’s quiet, and people just don’t get a chance to see him the way that I see him,” Chloe said. “With Special Olympics’ help he’s not gonna be the invisible kid.”
On Nov. 7, Axel will step up to the tee at Fall Championships. He’ll fix his feet, adjust his hips and shimmy his arms, and then he’ll swing.