By Rachel Neglia

Most popular high school sports, like football, softball, and soccer, follow the same formula. Team A faces team B, and one wins. Sports like golf, however, are more difficult for non-players to visualize at the high school level.

James David, a junior on the team, explains that high school golf “is not necessarily a competition between the teams that play in a tournament  (there is no winner or loser declared at each tournament), but an opportunity for each team to post individual scores that contribute to a season-long effort of qualifying for the state championship.” According to James, the goal of Tempe Prep’s golf team this year is to qualify all of its members to the state championship. Fortunately for the relatively new team, this goal is within reach.

James notes that “We have about five new freshmen who moved up onto the team from the junior high golf team… We have the best chance of qualifying as a team this year out of all the previous years because we [also] have returning seniors and juniors like Carter Marshall and Jacob Massie.” The team’s scheduled 11 matches over the course of the season present many opportunities for qualifying scores.

Tempe Prep’s influence in the world of golf extends past its golf team. Several weeks ago, James was chosen to report on events at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. “I am part of a golf program called The First Tee of Phoenix through which I was selected to be a Course Reporter for the Phoenix Open,” he says. James received access to areas reserved for the press, and “was able to interview golfers one-on-one as well as pose questions in press conferences.”

“I had the special privilege to interview the Thunderbird Tournament Chairman Dan Mahoney (the director for the 2016 Phoenix Open) and got the chance to interview some of golf’s biggest names like Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler,” he points out.

James describes that the whole experience “was pretty special because, with my press credentials, I was working amongst big names in sports media like ESPN.” Indeed, curricular effort can combine with extracurricular interest to open up amazing opportunities for dedicated students.