Eric Zhao

North York, ON • Team Canada – NextGen

General Facts

  • Date of birth November 12, 2007
  • Hometown North York, ON
  • Home club Bayview Golf & Country Club
  • School N/A
  • Years on team 2 (2023 Team Canada - NextGen | 2022 Amateur Squad)

Notable moments

  • 7th – 2023 Junior Orange Bowl International
  • Champion – 2022 Ping An Bank Junior All-Star Invitation
  • T5 – 2022 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship
  • 3rd – 2022 R&A Junior Open
  • Was a member of the winning Team Canada team at the 2022 Toyota Junior World Cup (T10 individually)
  • Champion – 2022 NextGen Pacific Championship, fueled by JOURNIE Rewards
  • 2nd – 2021 Mahoning Valley Hospital Foundation AJGA All Star
  • 5th – 2021 Junior Golf Hub AJGA All Star
  • 2nd – Juvenile Division, 2021 Canadian Junior Championship
  • Champion – 2021 CJGA PING Junior Match Play
  • 2nd – 2021 Golf Canada Junior Squad Selection Camp

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