Dusty Craddock, following his shot on the driving range Tuesday at Boulder City Municipal Golf Course, shot 10-under-par 62 in a March 22 match, shattering the previous high school state record of 6-under 66. Photo by John Locher.

Had Dusty Craddock been your typical, brutally honest 8-year-old, a state high school record probably would still be standing.

But Craddock, now a senior at Boulder City High School, didn't tell his father what he really thought of the idea of playing golf.

And last week, 10 years after he first played the game, Craddock shot 10-under-par 62 to obliterate the state's previous 18-hole top score of 6-under 66.

"My dad asked me one day if I wanted to go play golf, and I thought it was the dumbest question ever," Craddock said. "I was into the X-Games and that kind of thing. But I did it to make my dad happy and ended up falling in love with it."

Craddock said it took all of one day to take to the sport.

"I was addicted after the first round," Craddock said. "I wanted to go out the next day and play. I didn't know what was good and bad, I just knew I enjoyed it."

His passion for golf quickly led him to abandon extreme sports.

"I was big into bicycles," Craddock said. "And then after a while, I was just thinking, 'Don't do anything that would get you injured for golf.' So I pretty much stopped doing everything."

Everything, that is, except play golf.

Craddock continued to hone his game and captured the Class 3A state individual crown as a junior, carding a 36-hole total of 2-under 142 to win by six shots.

"He just loves the game, and he's a real good shot creator," Boulder City coach Bob Northridge said. "He can play real well in windy conditions. He can adjust his game a lot. Probably the strength of his game is he can adjust to the conditions."

Despite Craddock's previous success, Northridge was shocked by the 10-under 62 his star shot March 22 at Boulder Creek Golf Course in Boulder City.

"I never imagined a high school kid could shoot that low for 18 holes," Northridge said.

Craddock said he is able to leave previous bad shots or bad luck behind and focus on the current hole. He illustrated that perfectly when he shot his 62.

"I lipped a couple birdie putts within the first three holes," Craddock said. "I told myself to get it together, and then I made five birdies straight."

He finished with eight birdies and an eagle for a bogey-free 62.

"Every birdie I made, I just kept saying 'Make another,' " Craddock said. "I was just optimistic."

As optimistic as he is on the course, he knows he has room to get better. He currently has a 70.25 average in 3A Southern League matches and would like to become more consistent.

"I could probably improve on everything," Craddock said. "Even if I shoot 62, I still see room for improvement on different parts of my game. My ball striking could improve. My outlook on my game could improve. I try to stay positive, but I know sometimes I'm not."

While Craddock knows there is room for improvement, he admits he doesn't spend all that much time practicing.

"I think that's probably the No. 1 thing that Coach (would like to see me do) is practice more," Craddock said.

But Craddock is hesitant to mess with success.

"Sometimes my best practices are 20 minutes long, where I figure out what I need to do," Craddock said.

"I normally don't even hit balls on tournament day. The day I shot 62, I hit lob wedge five times on the range and went up to the tee. I was ready to go."