At the age of six he taught himself how to play golf by watching the PGA Tour on television. He eventually became the number one-ranked junior player in his country. No, this isn't another Tiger Woods biography, it's freshman Madalitso Muthiya of the UNM men's golf team.
Muthiya, a Lusaka, Zambia native, earned the Athlete of the Year award in his country for two straight years. In Zambia, the Athlete of the Year is chosen from all the countries' athletes, including professionals. He has been ranked the top amateur golfer in Zambia for five straight years, starting when he was 13 years old.
Muthiya said he found his natural talent for golf while playing with his father's golf clubs when he was a youngster.
"I would steal my father's clubs when he would go to work and hit balls around the yard," he said.
His father never knew of his desire to play golf until Muthiya accidentally broke a window.
"He didn't get mad," he said. "He just facilitated my talent. He probably recognized that I had talent."
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His father gave him his first set of clubs, and his late uncle taught him how to grip the club and from that point on Muthiya learned to play golf on his own.
His talent helped him achieve his dream of attending an American university.
A friend of Muthiya's father, who worked for the federal government in Washington, D.C., collaborated with the prime minister of Zambia to help Muthiya find a U.S. school to attend.
Information on Muthiya was sent out to schools whose men's golf programs were ranked in the top-20 in the country.
UNM head coach Glen Millican said that he received the information on Muthiya and started recruiting him.
"I just responded and got a chance to watch him play and meet his dad in Florida at one of his only junior events in the states," he said. "What I showed him and told him sounded good, so he decided to come here."
Millican said Muthiya's demeanor is what impressed him the most, along with his unbelievable athletic ability.
Golf Digest began to call and top ranked colleges started to heavily recruit Muthiya once they knew of his talent.
"The other universities gave me 100 percent (scholarships) afterwards when they heard of my accomplishments; that was kind of ridiculous," Muthiya said.
Assistant coach Ryan Murphy said that Muthiya's victory at the Botswana Amateur Open in June is what made a lot of colleges start to call.
"They were a dollar short and a day late," Murphy said with a grin.
Muthiya had originally signed his letter of intent with UNM in November of 1999.
He was planning on finishing school a year early and arriving at UNM for the 2000-2001 season, however he was held up by international testing standards.
At this point Millican only had an invalid letter of intent in hand because the letter was good for one year. With options open, Muthiya stuck with the people that originally had full faith in him.
"I had already committed to New Mexico, I figured that would be the best choice from day one," Muthiya said.
The weather, the coaches and the economics department are what attracted Muthiya to UNM.
"Education is one of my number one priorities," Muthiya said. "I also want to contribute a lot to the team. I didn't want to go to a golf college where I would be number one or second. I'd rather be last so I could work my way to become the best player on the team."
Murphy gives credit to Muthiya's personality for his continuous improvement.
"He's a very humble person," Murphy said. "He's got a lot of accomplishments and enough to be overly confident, but he's not."
Muthiya, who plays for the junior varsity team, has a stroke average just under 72, which Millican says is incredible for a true freshman.
In the most recent tournament for the junior varsity team, Muthiya finished tied for second, shooting a 7-under par, two strokes behind the winner at the Falcon-Antigua Invite on Oct. 8.
Muthiya looks at this season as an opportunity to improve his golf skills.
"I want to be a better player than I am and contribute a lot to the golf team and be the best in the end, and I know it is possible," he said.
Millican said that Muthiya is definitely bringing good things to the team.
"He has played great in a couple of tournaments," he said. "He brings a good personality to the team and also has a good work ethic. There is definitely a lot more to come for Madalitso."
