NewsAthleticsPre-K to 8
Student Sets Goal: Stays Course
Nov 8, 2000 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
Avid golfer, Patrick McShane, eighth grade, is an athlete on a mission. His self-made charge is to win at least one state championship in high school and then to play golf at the University of Georgia before eventually playing on the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour. With the direction his course is bearing, this may be an attainable goal.
Recently, Patrick won the Caroline Junior Classic, a tournament on the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour (SJGT), in Madison, Miss. by firing rounds of 68 and 73, three under par. He captured the Male 12-13 division (winning by three shots over his nearest competitor). In round one, Patrick made two eagles on holes 15 and 16, both par 5 holes. This win earned him the title Softspikes Player of the Month of October. He also qualified to play in the SJGT Championship in Huntsville, Ala. and the Tournament of Champions in Woodstock, Ga.
This summer, competing at the age 13 level of the Atlanta Junior Golf Association (AJGA), he won five of the six tournaments and finished first in the Grand Championship, shooting final rounds of 73 and 75. He received Player of the Year honors for the 13-year-old age group and finished second overall in total points.
Patrick started playing golf at age two when his grandfather, Bud Webster, Rome, Ga., who had some regular size irons cut down to accommodate his grandson’s size, began teaching him the sport in his front yard.
Coosa Country Club, Rome, Ga., was the setting for Patrick’s first triumph. He was six years old when he won the Junior Club Championship. Patrick continued to earn this title for the next four years. At age nine, the young athlete began competing with the AJGA and has won at least two tournaments each year since.
During the summer of 1999, Patrick won four of six tournaments in AJGA’s age 12 division. Over the course of the year, Patrick finished third in the Grand Championship. That title earned Patrick a spot at the Future Masters Competition at Dothan Country Club, Dothan Ala., where he finished eleventh, competing against players from around the country.
Patrick plays on the Darlington Middle School golf team.
Recently, Patrick won the Caroline Junior Classic, a tournament on the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour (SJGT), in Madison, Miss. by firing rounds of 68 and 73, three under par. He captured the Male 12-13 division (winning by three shots over his nearest competitor). In round one, Patrick made two eagles on holes 15 and 16, both par 5 holes. This win earned him the title Softspikes Player of the Month of October. He also qualified to play in the SJGT Championship in Huntsville, Ala. and the Tournament of Champions in Woodstock, Ga.
This summer, competing at the age 13 level of the Atlanta Junior Golf Association (AJGA), he won five of the six tournaments and finished first in the Grand Championship, shooting final rounds of 73 and 75. He received Player of the Year honors for the 13-year-old age group and finished second overall in total points.
Patrick started playing golf at age two when his grandfather, Bud Webster, Rome, Ga., who had some regular size irons cut down to accommodate his grandson’s size, began teaching him the sport in his front yard.
Coosa Country Club, Rome, Ga., was the setting for Patrick’s first triumph. He was six years old when he won the Junior Club Championship. Patrick continued to earn this title for the next four years. At age nine, the young athlete began competing with the AJGA and has won at least two tournaments each year since.
During the summer of 1999, Patrick won four of six tournaments in AJGA’s age 12 division. Over the course of the year, Patrick finished third in the Grand Championship. That title earned Patrick a spot at the Future Masters Competition at Dothan Country Club, Dothan Ala., where he finished eleventh, competing against players from around the country.
Patrick plays on the Darlington Middle School golf team.
