Latanna Stone, who is celebrating her eighth birthday this week, has big plans for Saturday night. Her family has rented a limousine, which will transport them and her friends to a St. Petersburg restaurant, a private room for some high-end dining and fun. She may even get her nails done.

“These are the best times of my life,” she said, flashy a toothy grin.

It’s easy to smile at the innocence of that statement, knowing that there’s still a great big world awaiting an 8-year-old. Who knows where it will lead?

But these are amazing times for Brandon’s Latanna Stone and her family. And their story has just begun.

Last month, Stone won the U.S. Kids Junior Golf World Championship in the girls 7-and-under division at Pinehurst, N.C.

She shot 32-34-35-101 – three rounds of nine holes – beating the runner-up by eight strokes.

Earlier this year, at the season’s first U.S. Kids “major” event in San Diego, Stone finished second.

She’s just turning 8.

Off the tee, her drives already top out at 180 yards.

Already, she has won 80 junior tournaments.

Already, she’s a world champion.

Stone got her start at about 2 years old, after watching her father, Michael, swing a golf club. She begged to do it, too. Her swing was so beautiful her father immediately sensed natural talent. That was confirmed after taking her to a golf professional – actually, first finding one who agreed to “analyze” the potential of a 2-year-old.

“Most people think – I guess understandably so – that a 2-year-old might hit a ball or two, then they’ll want to go pull the clothes down from racks in the pro shop,” Stone’s father said. “Latanna is different. Ever since she started playing, she has focus. Golf is what she wants to do.

“We are not pushing her into this. But she’s such a competitor and she has a gift for it. All the golf people we have met say she’s going to be great in this game. Who can tell where it’s going to lead? But we want to give her every opportunity to succeed.”

That means sacrifice.

For parents Michael, a service technician, and Yuen, a hair stylist, it’s strategically planned vacations, flexibility and no opportunity for other investments.

Stone regularly trains at River Hills Country Club and has frequent sessions with her coach, Charlotta Sorenstam (Annika’s sister), in Orlando. For the first time, she is being home-schooled by her mother, working at the third-grade level, and structuring academics around her golf schedule.

“We’re focusing on the short-term goals right now, having fun, showing improvement and doing well in the junior tournaments,” said Michael, who said her daughter wants to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open when she is 11 or 12. “You can’t push your child. It has to be what they want to do.

“If you take them out for six hours of practice every day, that’s crazy. We go about an hour and then Latanna goes swimming. But really, she wants to play more. Golf is what she wants to do. You have to find what your child is good in and what they are passionate about. For Latanna, it’s golf all the way.”

Stone’s hard work and dedication paid off at Pinehurst.

She took a two-stroke lead into the final round. When emotions ran high, she calmed herself down with advice she heard from a former coach.

“If you hit a bad shot, you just look at a tree, a branch and focus on just that,” she said. “After five seconds, you forget about it all. The bad shot is gone and now you focus on hitting a good shot.”

Stone used that strategy to perfection at Pinehurst. Without a scoreboard or knowledge of the standings – typical of a U.S. Kids tournament – Stone didn’t know she had won the world championship until her birdie putt on the final hole.

With that, she jumped into the arms of her father, serving as her caddy.

“It was the best moment I’ve had in golf,” Stone said. “I’m so, so happy at that moment! Then I heard ‘click … click … click’ and I’m thinking, ‘What is that?’ ”

It was a photographer capturing the moment. The embrace between daughter and father was captured in Golf World Magazine. It solidified her introduction on the international stage.

“We have some people watching us at tournaments, and we’re not sure who they are,” Michael Stone said. “Obviously, Latanna is on the map now and people are following her progress. As for the future, potential sponsors and things like that, we’re not sure how it’s going to play out.

“We want to go at Latanna’s pace. Right now, she’s continually improving and really enjoying herself. We want to see that continue.”

It will definitely continue on Saturday, when Stone gets her limo ride and birthday celebration, a product of the realization that she has come of age a lot earlier than anyone might have reasonably expected.

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