O’Kola family continues returning to where 9-year-old son’s golf career began

QUINCY — Ashton O’Kola’s golf odyssey began with a trip far away from his homeland of Barbados.

The first tournament O’Kola, now 9 years old, ever played in was the 2019 Pepsi Little People’s Golf Championships when he was 3. O’Kola has played in every Pepsi Little People’s since then, and while he does not remember that first trip to the Gem City, there has been a common thread between every one.

“It’s been a really fun experience, so I’ve just done it for the rest of my life,” O’Kola said.

Ashton’s father and caddy, Andrew O’Kola, remembers that first tournament fondly.

“I felt so bad after the tournament because we didn’t know anything about golf,” said Andrew O’Kola, who grew up playing cricket and rugby but never golf. “We bought three clubs — a driver, a putter and a sand wedge — because we figured he would have to play out of the bunker. We were playing at the Knights of Columbus, and we come the first day and see everybody with all these clubs, and we’re like, ‘What are these clubs?’”

Ashton’s mother, Janeille Matthews, said one club in particular caught Ashton’s eye.

“He came to me and was like, ‘I see a boy with something that looks like a driver, but it’s not a driver,’” Matthews said.

That “driver-but-not-driver-looking club” was a hybrid, which Andrew was fascinated by, as well.

“I saw a guy with several clubs, and I asked the guy for the one that doesn’t look like a regular club,” Andrew O’Kola said. “I asked him, ‘What is that for?’ He was like, ‘Oh, this is a hybrid.’”

Ashton and Andrew played in the parent/child scramble event that year, for which Andrew had to borrow then-organizer Nan Ryan’s clubs.

“I remember playing and my son saying, ‘Oh, my God, Dad can’t hit the ball straight,’” Andrew O’Kola said. “I was like, ‘This is 4 feet. You must be able to hit the ball from here to here.’”

What Andrew struggled to do that day Ashton makes look easy. After the first round of this year’s two-day tournament, Ashton leads the 3B division — for 8- to 9-year-old boys — by one shot after shooting a 3-over 38 on the third nine at Westview Golf Course on Tuesday, capped off by a birdie on the par-3 27th hole.

Only then did Ashton crack his infectious smile.

“It felt very good,” Ashton O’Kola said of that birdie, the only one of his round.

When asked if he would rather birdie the first or last hole, Ashton’s answer perfectly encapsulated his desire for perfection on the golf course.

“Both,” he said.

If he had to choose one, though?

“The last one,” Ashton O’Kola said. “It gives me confidence into the next round.”

Andrew said the most important part of his job as Ashton’s caddie is to instill that confidence, especially when Ashton gets frustrated because of his sky-high expectations for himself.

“He’s the golfer,” Andrew O’Kola said. “I don’t play golf, so I don’t help him in terms of his shot selection and reading the greens. In fact, there are many times where he’s playing and he turns to me and says, ‘Where is it going?’ I’m like, ‘You know. Just trust yourself,’ but that doesn’t happen often.

“My support is more to console him, give him a little love because he’s only 9. There are a lot of emotions he’s going through.”

Ashton attested to that.

“My dad helps a lot,” Asthon O’Kola said. “He makes me think about other things so I forget about how bad I did on the last hole.”

Even at just 9 years old, Ashton has already traveled to four continents and 12 states. Luckily for his parents, Ashton has handled plane rides quite well.

“He was never one of those children who cries a lot while flying, so that was good,” Andrew O’Kola said.

Ashton has made two holes-in-one — one at the IMG Championships when he was 5 and another at Apes Hill Golf Club, his favorite course in his native Barbados. He has won tournaments like the Barbados Junior Grand Slam, the Big 5 in South Africa, and the Future Champions Golf National Championship in San Diego, Calif. He also won the 2B Division in the 2023 Pepsi Little People’s by six shots and was recognized with the Junior Outstanding Sportsperson Award in the male category in Barbados that year, too.

If his golf accomplishments were not enough, Ashton also speaks four languages — English, French, Spanish and Chinese.

“It comes in handy sometimes, like when we’re in different countries,” Ashton O’Kola said.

Andrew recalled a hysterical moment when Ashton overheard another group of golfers speaking in their native tongue.

“The other players were speaking Spanish,” Andrew O’Kola said. “They were talking amongst themselves about strategy, and Ashton goes, ‘Dad, they don’t know that I’m listening, but I can hear their strategies.'”

The multi-faceted Ashton O’Kola also plays cricket like his dad, plays soccer and swims competitively. Andrew stressed playing other sports as an important part of Ashton’s upbringing.

“He’s not the kid that plays seven days a week or is homeschooled around golf,” Andrew O’Kola said. “He does every other thing. He golfs on Saturday, and when there’s time and he’s not doing anything on a Monday, he golfs.”

He would never miss the LPGC, though.

“I love everybody here,” Ashton O’Kola said. “It’s just so fun.”