18-year-old D’Arcy Whyte is ready to take the golfing world by storm. Photos: Steve Huntley.
Echuca’s D’Arcy Whyte has been making waves over the past couple of years as a serious golfing talent in the region.
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The 18-year-old, who has just taken out the Rich River Golf Club championship, lives and breathes the sport and has vowed that whatever he does for the rest of his life, it will be something to do with golf.
While coaching juniors or working on a course would be nice, playing is definitely the plan for Whyte and has been a dream of his for as long as he can remember.
A year ago, he took out the Goldfield Junior tournament — by one shot.
His upset two-and-one victory over Murray Downs pro Matt Docking in the Rich River pennant competition saw his side win the title three and two.
His Melbourne club — Commonwealth — missed the Division One pennant final by half a point in his breakthrough season in the top tier.
In September, Whyte was also selected in Team Victoria for the School Sport Australia 18-and-under golf championships in Canberra, bringing home a silver medal and named as one to watch.
And now, after a couple of wins in the junior championship, Whyte is the new breakthrough talent at Rich River.
Switched on to the game by his grandfather Geoff Spencer, Whyte has been playing since he was six — golf isn’t just part of his life, it is his life.
But being 18 and a secondary school student has its negatives when it comes to the game and the next big win.
“I was going to try to qualify for the NSW Open at Murray Downs this week,” Whyte said.
“But the opening day of play coincides with my Year 12 physics exam, so I had to give it a miss.”
Whyte took out the 2024 Rich River Golf Club championship.
While Whyte, like anyone looking to turn pro, has suffered countless setbacks, he uses these challenges to improve his game in his almost daily self-analysis sessions and with coach Ben Patten.
Whyte and Patten get together at least once a week, and then every couple of weeks for a more formal session.
But the game of golf, Whyte concedes, is mostly you against the course. You don’t necessarily need to beat any other players but rather, overcome the challenges given to you.
Whyte’s biggest golfing idol is Jack Nicklaus, often considered to be the greatest of all time for the sport and who Whyte calls ‘the grand master’.
“Nicklaus didn’t necessarily outplay all the guys on the tour, but I reckon he definitely out thought them,” Whyte said.
“A golf course is designed to make you play a certain way, put your ball in a certain place, but Nicklaus made the course work for him instead.
“When you play a course, you need to figure out what it wants, what you need and what, in the middle of all that, you can do about it.
“And that’s what I try to do.”
To date, the meteoric rise of D’Arcy Whyte has been a family-funded journey — even the thought of turning pro remains a fervent but distant dream.
He has played off a handicap of +3 but knows there is no shortage of Australian teenagers who can do the same and even more so worldwide.
It’s easy to say you are turning pro, but it’s light years from getting your card in the big leagues. A lot of time, effort, money and sacrifice is required for an incredibly small window of opportunity.
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