When Latrobe's Tim and Rhonda Marshall first took their son, Dylan, to a camp at the Norvelt Golf Club about three years ago, they thought they were introducing a new activity into their son's life.

What they didn't know was that they were losing a son ... to the sport.

Well, not really. But close.

"Ever since I started playing golf, it's been an absolute passion of mine," Dylan said. "I just absolutely love playing the game, everything about it.

"Golf is my life, pretty much. I have nothing else that I'd rather do. Golf is one of the biggest priorities in my life."

The most recent evidence of Marshall's love for golf came when he was named the King's Restaurants Tri-State Section PGA Junior Golf Tournament Series player of the year in the boys' 17-18 age division.

Marshall, a senior, also was a member of the Greater Latrobe High School team that won the WPIAL and PIAA championships last year.

It all should come as little surprise, at least when known how Marshall performed among the first times he swung a club, anyway.

"He played pretty well from the start," Marshall's mother said. "You could almost tell right away this was the sport for him. He immediately had a really good couple rounds there, so that's what he does. He started out at one of the Norvelt Golf Camps, then he took one the next summer. Then we got him a membership.

"And we haven't gotten him off the course since."

That's not much in the way of hyperbole. Marshall, of course, plays golf. He watches golf on TV and in person. He travels to play and watch golf.

In fact, just in one weekend alone this past summer, Marshall ventured into Ohio for golf ... twice. Once to watch the PGA Bridgestone Invitational in Akron tournament. And again the following Monday with a group of buddies "to try a new golf course, for the heck of it."

"I play golf every single day," Marshall said. "Anytime I have an opportunity, I go out to the golf course and play. I try to play pretty much every day for as many hours as I possibly can play."

Marshall lapped the field in the eight-week summer King's tour, accumulating 376 points, 116 more than runner-up Brett Cox of Pittsburgh.

"It really was a goal of mine when I signed up to play on a lot of the tournaments on the King's tour," Marshall said. "I'm happy I had some pretty solid finishes. It'll look pretty nice on a college resume, too."

Marshall, of course, has it as a goal to play high-level golf in college. He also wants to make the sport part of his course of study. It's his intention to find a school where he can play for the golf team and also major in professional golf management.

In addition to the King's tournaments, Marshall also has competed in Future Collegians World Tour and International Junior Golfers Tour events. He also competed admirably at the Pennsylvania Amateur Championship, finished second at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Championship and eighth at the Westmoreland County Junior Amateur.

"When I'm scoring really well on the golf course, I'm usually putting extremely well," Marshall said. "The one thing that can be my downfall is hitting accurately off the tee. I can go a little left or right, but when I'm playing well, I putt well and I'm driving well and hitting irons well. If I do that, I can usually shoot a pretty good score."

Last season, Latrobe wasn't considered a favorite to win the WPIAL. This season, the Wildcats will be more on people's radar. Marshall, who figures to be one of the team's leaders this season, prefers the lower profile.

"I'd like a goal for our team to be to qualify for the playoffs," Marshall said. "Last year we didn't expect to have as good a season as we had, and we ended up winning the state championship. That proved that you never really know what can happen when it comes to the playoffs, so we want to make sure we get in.

"Individually, my goals are to qualify for the [PIAA] tournament, and if I can get there, play well and maybe get into the top 15 at states or something like that. That would be a great goal for me."

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