Eric Zhao

North York, Ont. • Team Canada – NextGen

General Facts

  • Date of birth November 12, 2007
  • Hometown North York, Ont.
  • Home club Bayview Golf & Country Club
  • School N/A
  • Years on team 2022 (Junior Squad); 2023-24 (Team Canada - NextGen)

Notable moments

  • Champion – Ping An Bank Junior All-Star Invitation (2022)
  • T5 – Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship (2022)
  • 3rd – R&A Junior Open (2022)
  • Was a member of the winning Team Canada team at the Toyota Junior World Cup (T10 individually) (2022)
  • Champion – NextGen Pacific Championship, fueled by JOURNIE Rewards (2022)
  • 2nd – Mahoning Valley Hospital Foundation AJGA All Star (2021)
  • 5th – Junior Golf Hub AJGA All Star (2021)
  • 2nd – Juvenile Division, Canadian Junior Championship (2021)
  • Champion – 2021 CJGA PING Junior Match Play (2021)

Q&A

  • Q: How did you get into golf?

    My brother and I played a few different sports when we were younger. After trying them all for a while my father asked us which one we liked the best. We both decided on golf as our main sport. I chose golf because it’s a more individual sport than the others. I don’t need the whole team to be available to play. This means I could be on my own schedule. I started golf with this odd reason but when I got into it, I really discovered a lot of fun that I didn’t experience in the beginning.

  • Q: What is something most people don’t know about you? Any hidden talents?

    I like to joke around a lot with people. But deep down I have serious ambitions that I’m trying work hard to achieve. My coach, Doug, calls me the Farmer. Very often people ask me why. It comes from a story about a Chinese farmer and his son. Basically bad things happen to his son and those bad things end up becoming beneficial for him. So the moral of the story is ” it’s neither good nor bad.” Every time I make a bogey or a birdie I always tell myself  “it’s neither good nor bad,” and it helps keep my emotions stable throughout a round of golf. This is something between me and my coach and not a lot of people know about this.

  • Q: What is the best thing about your hometown?

    Toronto is a very diverse city. My favorite part of Toronto is that there are so many different kinds of food from all parts of the world.

  • Q: Do you have any superstitions?

    Sometimes after playing a good tournament, I feel like I will play well again the next time if I wear the same clothes.

  • Q: If you could have a walk-up song on the first tee box, what would it be?

    It would probably be “Here comes the Boom,” soundtrack from the movie “Here Comes the Boom”.

Equipment

  • Driver: Titleist TSr3
  • Woods: Titleist Tsr2; Titleist TSi2
  • Irons: Titleist T-100
  • Wedges: Vokey SM8; Vokey T Grind
  • Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 12
  • Ball: Titleist Pro V1x