[ad_1]
Jaden Minter gets discouraged and quits easily when he starts playing golf with friends who are better at the game than he is. But that only motivated him to be better … and his rapid rise through the ranks began.
He started on the Spring-Ford development squad as a freshman, moved to the JV team as a sophomore and then to the varsity lineup as a junior. And as a senior, he proved that he could not only keep up with his friends and teammates on the golf course, but anyone in the area as well.
Minter won the Pioneer Athletic Conference individual tournament championship and helped his team to its second straight PAC team title. At the District 1-3A Tournament, his mark was the best of any PAC competitor.
He was also named to the PAC All-Conference First Team. And all those accomplishments earned him the title of Mercury All-Area Boys Golf Player of the Year.
“Jaden is the story I tell the kids at the beginning of every season,” Spring-Ford coach Jerry Hollingsworth said after Minter shot a 1-over 73 at Turtle Creek Golf Course to win the PAC title by two. stroke against teammate and 2021 Player of the Year Luke Fazio. “He barely made the developmental team as a freshman, played JV as a sophomore and varsity as a junior. The child is always in range. He’s just always working hard to get better.”
“I saw my friends playing golf and I started playing with them that summer,” Minter said. “I enjoyed getting better, just the little things. I have kids around me who play better than me. I want to get well.”
That desire became a commitment.
“I always play. Hard work, not getting discouraged, just staying with my own game,” Minter said on his mentality. “I get discouraged easily. All the kids are better than me.
Minter missed part of the season with a hand injury. Then at the PAC championships, he had to recover from a slow start to win the title, dropping four strokes from his championship tournament score from 2021 when he finished in a three-way tie for 10th place.
“I don’t think I got off to the best start,” he said. “I had two double bogeys on the front nine … no bogeys on the back nine. I just try not to go too high, too low. … The wind was strong, but my approach shot was pretty good. I hit the greens and it gave me a birdie look.
At the district tournament at Turtle Creek, he shot a 78 on day one, missing the cut by one stroke.
But he shot a 72 on the second day while playing in the team competition and the Rams finished second, four strokes behind Downingtown West.
His two-day total of 150 was eighth-best in the field and would have qualified for the PIAA Tournament if not for his first-round woes.
He was one of seven Spring-Ford players to qualify for districts.
“It’s awesome,” Minter said. “It’s great competing against each other. This makes for a great competitive environment. It brings the group together. Us seniors, we’ve all stepped up in different ways to lead our team.”
Minter is a member of the Spring-Ford Country Club and works at Turtle Creek. After his junior year, he improved his overall game while taking lessons from Hugh Reilly at Performance Golf.
“There’s always something you can improve,” he said. “It’s a new game every day. The next day, I might have the worst game of my life. Ride the highs, knowing the lows happen when you think you have it.”
“He was relentless,” Hollingsworth said. “He is his toughest critic. He puts in the work he needs to do and is super-competitive. … Anyone you talk to has nothing but good things to say about him. You love having players like Jaden on your team.”
Minter will attend Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, where he will play golf and major in international business.
And after that, there could be more golf on the horizon.
“It’s good to keep playing,” Minter said.
“I’m excited to see where he goes from there,” Hollingsworth said.
[ad_2]
Source link
