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His Goal-Make it to the State Golf Tournament |
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 |
 Marcus Hunt, Catawba Island, got his first golf club when he was about one year old. "It was plastic," he remembered. He also remembered those early years playing golf with his Grandfather, Bill, of Massillon, OH.
At the age of seven he discovered competition, and things haven't been the same since.
The sophomore at Port Clinton High School has been on the Port Clinton High School golf team since his freshman year. Last year he received First Team All-SBC and had the second lowest scoring average at 36.9 for nine holes. "The best thing that happened to me was that I won three out of the eight high school tournaments that I played in. I considered my best achievement the Edison Invitational at Sawmill where I won out of a field of 105 golfers." His other achievement was qualifying for district from the Sectional Tournament.
He won player of the year honors in 2007 for his age group 14-15 in the Lake Erie Junior Golf Association
(LEJGA) events and won six of the last eight tournaments he entered. He will be competing in six LEJGA events in 2008.
He was encouraged and coached by his father Mark, who was also a member of his high school golf team in his home of Massillon. With his help, Marcus began playing in Junior Tournaments, and now has shelves of trophies in his home and more stored in the attic.
For the past two months, Marcus has been practicing with a new coach, Dave Wiesenberger of Eagle Creek. "So far he's just been observing me hit balls, and he said that he likes what he sees. He's going to be teaching me how to manage the course, like where to hit the ball and how to think about certain conditions on the course," Marcus said.
To the new information, he will add the best advice he received from his father: "He taught me not to get mad at myself, take one shot at a time and move on and don't look back at the past," he said.
Marcus will hardly have time to think of the past with the rigorous schedule of tournaments planned for the summer. Major road trips have been planned covering eight to ten states over a three-month tour in search of a victory on National-International Junior summer tours.
Two are of major importance. The first is the 33rd PGA Junior Championship played at TPC River Bend in Mainville, OH and the second is the United States Junior Amateur to be played in Shoal Creek, Alabama. Both events have qualifier tournaments to advance forward to the major junior events of the year. He will also be playing the PGA Callaway Junior Series Tour at six locations starting in Lexington, Kentucky then moving to North Carolina in June.
Closer to home, Marcus has been invited to compete in the Hudson Junior Invitational. Many present professional tour players played in Hudson, OH as junior players in past years. In 1987, Phil Mickelson won the event as well as John Daly in 1983. Both U.S. and International players will compete for this trophy.
Altogether, Marcus has about 25 tournaments on his proposed agenda for the summer months.
During his Spring break, Marcus prepared by relaxing, playing some golf and hitting balls. He also works out by running about four miles and lifting weights.
"I am very proud of his accomplishments in golf and with his GPA which is 3.4," said his father Mark. "The strongest part of his game is his determination to win. Period. He never gives up. Marcus has made pressure his friend. Most golfers spend a lifetime trying to find that friendship. Most never will. For instance, at a high school event at Eagle Creek, his coach Rick Dominick told him on the last tee that he needed par to tie. Marcus told him," That's OK. I'm going to birdie." And he did for the win.
Marcus is also a First Tee member and will be helping PGA Professionals this summer teach younger junior golfers the game.
Marcus spends most of his practice time at Oak Harbor Golf Course and Eagle Creek Golf Club.
This year his goal is to make it to the State Tournament and to win one of the Callaway PGA Junior Series tournaments which are large national tournaments. He'd also like to lower his 18 hole average which is 76.75.
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