Grandson of former Lake Success Mayor Bernstein shines at Augusta

Robert Pelaez
Lucas Bernstein won the Kids' Drive, Chip and Putt contest at the Augusta Masters course in the age 7-9 year-old bracket on April 4. (Photo courtesy of Robert S. Bernstein)

The grandson of former Lake Success Mayor Robert S. Bernstein won the nationwide Drive, Chip and Putt event at the Augusta, Georgia, golf course in early April.

Lucas Bernstein, son of South High graduate Michael Bernstein, came in first place for the 7-9-year-old age group at the event, which allows aspiring young golfers to showcase three of the more commonly used aspects of the game.  Contestants go through several qualifying rounds before being selected to go to Georgia.

Lucas said his father took him to the driving range when he was a couple months old and he started putting with plastic golf clubs before he could walk. After years of developing his golf game, Lucas was able to advance through the qualifying stages and got ready for Augusta.

Lucas, 11, was 9 when he qualified for the 2020 competition, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed the event for a year, so some of the competitors were older than the brackets they were in.

The traveling, he said, was one of the more challenging aspects to deal with. “Since we have such a big family, I think it was a little challenging with the masks and all that,” Lucas said in an interview. “But it definitely helped a lot because I got more time to practice and perfect those elements of being better.”

“Usually my training would be going to the range, hitting balls, doing certain drills,” he continued. “But since it was drive, chip and putt, with chipping from 15 to 20 yards, putting from 15 to 30 feet, and driving, I was really focused on those elements of the game.”

Going into the competition, he said, his goal was to place in the top three in his age group. Lucas touted the competition he faced and said he was, of course, satisfied with the end result of holding a trophy at one of the most famous courses in the world.

“Out of all the kids just do some really good competition, so my mindset was top three, which happened,” Lucas said. “It’s just super cool that I actually won the competition.”

When asked what his golf plans were, Lucas did not hesitate to acknowledge that there is always room for improvement, noting one shot in particular ahead of the regular season starting up again.

“I’m trying to perfect the high end soft shot now,” he said. “Usually my shots have a medium trajectory, so now I’m working on the high end soft shot.”

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