It's an ordinary Saturday for the junior golfer with his father Pricha at his side at Phunaka Golf Course in Chalong.
Just two weeks before, he was celebrating his 4th place finish at the prestigious Callaway Junior World Golf Championships in San Diego, California – one of the toughest junior competitions in the world.
Though his family is proud of him, Mark just wants to improve.
“I think I can do better than this,” he said, “I could not putt on the last day. I putt for birdie in every hole but could not make the last few holes.”
The Phuket-native only picked up a golf club after he turned seven. Just fives months later, he was asked to join the Thailand junior golf team. At nine-years-old, he competed in the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships for the first time and finished in 5th place. Today, he is regular competitor at international tournaments in Malaysia, Japan, Australia, and Taiwan in addition to his various sponsorships from companies in Japan and Thailand.
But on weekdays, he's just Mark, a student at Kajonkiet International School with dreams of turning professional.
“I just want to play golf. On free time, I just watch video about golf, watch golf channel. Everything is golf, only think about golf. I draw stick man and a golf club and create story about golf,” he told The Phuket News.
Mark's discipline on the golf course (five hours every weekday, over 10 hours on the weekend) clearly come from his father Pricha, a former badminton player for the Thailand national team. Pricha gleams with pride when he says his son is currently being scouted by professional Golf academies in the US and Australia, including an offer to train with Jason Day, currently one of the ten best golfers in the world.
Still, Mark has already moved on from the fact that he just placed 4th out of 145 of the world's best junior golfers. His sights are set on competing later this month in Bangkok, this December in Malaysia and again in Hong Kong next March.
Ninlana, Mark's mother, believes he could have worse distractions.
“Better to play golf than videogames,” she said, “I think golf helps him have more positive thinking and concentrate in all things.”