What the JGA has Meant to Me
I started partaking in the game of golf at five years old, practicing at my local golf course in Lauderhill, given lessons through an organization called Fore Life. Before this, I entered into a soccer program, but as I was still young, I let my over-competitive nature and mentality get the best of me, often leaving the field in tears because I was never given the ball or my team lost an important game. Having realized this, my mother decided to focus my efforts towards a sport more focused on one person, and after debating whether I would follow my brother and practice tennis or move towards golf, my mother and I decided that golf would be the best way to go.
After continuing to practice with Fore Life for a further three years, I was informed about JGA and asked to participate in the season along with other junior golfers in the Fore Life program. I was incredibly excited, getting the chance to prove myself and put myself in a competitive golf environment for the first time. Taken from my experiences during soccer, I put massive pressure on myself to perform and finish in a podium place in my first tournament. However, my first tournament was the complete opposite. I struggled to maintain focus, kept forgetting certain rules and overall left incredibly frustrated by how I played.
Whilst my performance compared to the other competitors in my Boys “F” flight, this tournament, along with the rest of the tournaments I competed in during the JGA season that summer helped to teach me an incredibly important lesson about myself and the game of golf. Whilst I had the skills to perform well in tournaments, I was not mentally prepared. Even following into future tournaments, my frustrations continued and would only further my poor play. However, slowly through more experience in JGA, I was able to control my nerves and emotions through trial and error. Whether through trying to slow down my play, taking deep breaths or taking a lesson or two from one of my peers, I was able to get better at controlling myself during stressful situations. As this improved, so did my play during the season. I found myself being able to recover from bad situations and find alternate solutions if I was struggling with certain parts of my game, and overall put in more of a consistent and more focused performance. This would eventually become part of my personal life as well, as I was also entering into academic competitions. From Speech and Debate to local math Olympiads, I relied on techniques learned during JGA tournaments to settle nerves and put my best foot forward. Even throughout everyday situations, using things I picked up and learned about myself through JGA still continues to be prevalent.
JGA has left a lasting impact, and was an integral part of my growth both as a golfer and a human being. Exposing myself to competitive situations and stressful environments allowed me to see a version of myself that I would have not gotten the chance to see often had JGA not existed, and allowed me to make adjustments and find ways to become the best version of myself both on and off the course. I feel honored being able to compete in JGA across nine years, and thank the organization for giving myself the opportunity to be a part of your family.
“Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a-half-inch course, the space between your ears.” – Bobby Jones
