If you are a regular reader of Ten Golf, this gentleman needs no introduction, but just in case you don’t know him, here are some notes. Ramón Bescansa is one of the most reputable golf coaches in the United States. He is Galician, but has lived almost a lifetime in Jacksonville, Florida. He has a very good and well-earned reputation, especially with the short game and, above all, with the putt. In fact, he has patented and marketed a training system called Perfect Putter that is one of the most used on any putting green of a PGA Tour or DP World Tour tournament.
Nine years ago, Bescansa received an unusual proposal for a coach of his level. A friend of a friend had a six-year-old son who played golf and wanted him to take a look at his swing. Ramón was reluctant at first. It was logical. Players like Abraham Ancer, Davis Thompson, Harris English, Sergio García, Chris Gotterup, Raúl Pereda, Chris Kirk, Ben Kholes, Patton Kizzire or Matt Kuchar, as well as a good handful of golfers who play on the Korn Ferry Tour, have passed or have passed through his hands. Elite. Winners of the Grande and the PGA Tour, among others. He is not a coach for beginners and Bescansa himself felt that it might be better to look for someone specialized in initiation. He didn’t see it.
However, his friend, a good friend, insisted. “Come on, just meet him one day and see him, no obligation,” he told him. Ramón, out of politeness and friendship, agreed. “We met and as soon as he hit the second shot I saw that he had something special. He had a spectacular swing. We started working and until today,” explains Ramón to Ten Golf. Nine years later, that boy and this Galician who once played a tournament on the PGA Tour, lived one of the best experiences of their lives. They shared together an American circuit tournament, the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Ramón, as a caddie. That six-year-old boy was (and is) called Miles Russell.
“He was six years old but I could already train him like a professional. He listened a lot and well. I remember with eight years we were already training the distances with the wedges. At that age, it is normal not to have the necessary consistency to be able to perform an exercise of that type. It is difficult to find an eight-year-old boy who hits two solid ones in a row, but Miles did. There is something very special about him, in his manners, in his desire to improve and listen,” explains Bescansa.
Normally golf lessons are hired for an hour. Ramón and Miles hardly look at the clock. Time flies by. They are very fun sessions where they not only work on the swing, but it is about comprehensive training, the complete game. From a young age he won all the tournaments of his age, but his evolution in the last two years has been spectacular, Ramón says. He has made 17 less in a TaylorMade junior tournament, he is used to going ahead and beating golfers who are older. In 2023 he was chosen best junior in the United States after winning, among others, the THE PLAYERS Junior, and from there he has been given opportunities in professional tournaments.
The first invitation he received was for a Korn Ferry Tour tournament and he finished in the top twenty. He is the great sensation of golf in the United States in recent weeks. In the Rocket Mortgage he did not make the cut, but he left his mark with a partial of four less in 12 holes in his second round after sinking one from outside. “I was convinced that we were going to make the cut, but a couple of putts that didn’t go in and a bad swing left us out. Even so, it has been an impressive, priceless experience. For him and for me. I am very proud of how he handled it. It was not easy at all. We knew there would be attention on him, but not so much. He was followed by more public than Rickie Fowler and had a camera all the time. He was the show and he handled it wonderfully. There was a lot of pressure, but he showed great maturity. Super proud of him,” he says.
Bescansa is now full time with Russell, who also has lived in Jacksonville all his life. His training is comprehensive, in all facets, they understand each other very well. They work on the field of the University of North Florida, the most usual is San José Country Club or in Atlantic Beach. He is good at everything, but if something had to be highlighted it would be his short game. Despite how young he is, Ramón assures that he has all the shots and is not afraid to execute the one that corresponds at each moment. He is very skillful and is very coordinated.
He is the great phenomenon of golf in the United States. He has been on all the televisions for days, but Miles takes it calmly. His plans do not change. He has three more years in high school and then he will go to college. There will be time to think about being professional. What he is going to play is the US Amateur Junior, the US Amateur and all the important tournaments in which he can enter or in which he will try to qualify. The only professional tournament he has secured in the immediate future is the Bermuda Championship, for which he has already been given an invitation for being the best junior in the United States. Ramón will also be there with him.
Another very positive aspect of little Miles is his attitude. “It’s splendid, always very positive. He accepts mistakes very well and doesn’t get angry. It’s a pleasure to see him play. He has a very consistent routine,” he explains. Personally, he is a normal boy. “Very good kid, good person, rather shy and very mature for his age,” he says. His family has nothing to do with professional sports. His father played golf, handicap 8-10, but he was not a daily player either. He put a club in Miles’ hand at two years old and, since then, he hasn’t let go. “He’s one of those kids that you don’t have to make an effort to take to golf, the real effort is to get him off the course and go home,” jokes Ramón.
However, he is still a child, so as soon as he wins a championship the first thing he asks for to celebrate is pizza and ice cream. There is nothing he likes more. This is Miles Russell, the new golf prodigy in the United States led by a Spanish baton.
