What the JGA has meant to me:
Throughout my time playing with the JGA, I have learned many valuable lessons and had countless exciting experiences that I will never forget. The JGA has given me a chance to make lifelong friends that share my passion for golf. The JGA volunteers and officials have taught me to love the game of golf, even when it doesn’t go according to plan. It has also given me the unique opportunity to golf at many beautiful golf courses across Broward County that I would’ve never been able to play otherwise. Through the JGA, I was able to gain experience in tournament play and learned to cope with the pressure to perform that is ever present in tournament play. I have learned so much about golf and all the fascinating rules and nuances involved in it that I would’ve never learned or known about without the JGA. But for me, the JGA has meant a lot more than just a chance to golf.
The JGA has taught me to appreciate the little things and the times when things go right, even during times when it seems like most of the time things aren’t working out the way that I had hoped or planned. One important lesson that I learned through my participation in the JGA is that success comes through hard work, not luck. At the beginning of the season, I hadn’t played golf for awhile and it showed in my scores. I realized that in order to improve and begin to pose a competition to the other golfers, I needed to put in the time and the effort to practice. As I practiced, I began to see my hard work pay off. Sometimes my score still wasn’t the greatest, but I was able to enjoy the game more and feel like I was making progress. Another great lesson that the JGA taught me was to not judge people. I always try to not judge others around me but playing for the JGA helped me to really appreciate and not judge people younger than me. That may sound weird, but as a senior playing in the Boys B division, I sometimes played with people much younger than I was. I learned to not underestimate their abilities and respect the skill that they had as oftentimes despite their age, they were much more skilled than I was. It was a humbling experience that really opened my eyes to the skills that can be present in anyone. I really have appreciated the good values that the JGA works hard to instill in all of its golfers.
As outlined above, the JGA has meant a lot to me throughout my year playing in its tournaments this summer. I learned and grew a lot both as a person and in the field of golf. I am sincerely grateful for all of the amazing people I have met and the wonderful opportunity I have had to engage in the game of golf in a new and exciting way.
