Allan Kournikova, don’t recognise the name? You soon will

Allan Kournikova is aiming for his fourth US Kids Golf European Championship win in a row, and aged nine, the half brother of tennis ace Anna kournikova is already something of a celebrity.

The Florida born youngster is heading to East Lothian where the championship will take place on courses such as Gullane, Craigielaw, Luffness New and Longniddry. Although Scotland is a far cry from the heat of Florida, Allan Kournikova says he loves coming back.

“East Lothian is one of my favourite places in the whole wide world,” said Allan. “I love it, even when the weather is bad. I actually prefer to play in tough conditions as it makes the game challenging and I get to be more creative.”

The nine-year-old prodigy first picked up a club at just 18-months-old and, apparently, already has more than 200 trophies to his name.

“I started playing competitively when I was five-years-old.”

“No-one in my family played golf, I just remember watching it on TV and asking my mom if I could play,” said Allan Kournikova.

“I played three sports when I was younger: golf, tennis and horse-back riding but it was golf that I had the most fun playing so that’s what I’ve concentrated on.

“I started playing competitively when I was five-years-old and the US Kids Golf European Championships has been a great experience.”

His success hasn’t gone unnoticed in the US. Allan Kournikova has already appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s ‘the Tonight Night Show’ where he and two others challenged Fallon to a chipping contest.

Prior to that the youngster had featured in an awarding-winning documentary profiling the rise of junior golfing talents, aptly named ‘The Short Game’, where he spoke about his love of the game and his ambitions for the future.

“In the future, my ultimate aim is to turn professional and I hope that

I will be as good at golf as my sister was at tennis,” said Allan.

Challengers to Allan Kournikova

Rafe Cochran, who finished runner up to Allan Kournikova last year returns to try his luck again and the Scottish based challenge comes from Valdemar Hundeboll of Campbeltown. There will also be players from France, and as far afield as Japan and Nigeria heading to the US Kids Golf European Championship.