Before 2013, the Hillcrest Golf team sometimes had little to crow about. That was until the new group of Freshman and Sophomore students came into the picture, some students being Ahina Ricks, Christian Grady, Dante Jones, Luster Scott, Jalen, Clinton Okechuku, and myself. These students do not worry about the amount of possible disrespect that they could face; they prove that Golf is not just for certain races, certain colors of skin. I’ve played sports for most of my life, and when I play a sport, I do my best to give maximum effort. It does not matter to me if it is the hardest sport in the world.

I first started playing Golf in my Sophomore year, going through the same struggle as any other person who plays Golf for the first time. When my mom showed me a recording of myself swinging the club, she told me that my swing was as if I was swinging a baseball bat. It has really been my annual hobby, playing baseball. When I started playing Golf, there was a lot of things that I had to fix. I may not be the brightest of my teammates, but when the going gets tough, I continued to put forth 100% of my effort. I also may not aim for the sky, but I have one thing, one goal in sight: the course’s flag.

Ahnia Ricks, from 2013-2016, has been the only female golfer on the team, but does this stop Hawk’s #1 from being the best she can be? No, it does not! Ahina has the team’s Hawk 1 for longer than even her teammates can remember. “Golf has not been easy these last four years, but I have developed due to hard work, perseverance, my great coaches, family, and teammates,” Ahnia said. Ahina was chosen by the team’s head coach, Eric Johnson, to be apart of Hillcrest’s S.A.L.T (Student Athlete Leadership Team) program to represent the golf team. (Jarrett and Christian were also selected for S.A.L.T. but for different sports.)

At the Boys Golf Regionals of 2016, Dante Jones and Jalen earned a spot in the 2016 Golf Sectionals with 105 strokes for Jalen and 99 strokes for Dante, Jalen setting the maximum number of strokes to have before not qualifying for Sectionals. Jarrett shot a 108, just missing Sectionals by three strokes;  Ahnia shot a 103 at the Girls Golf Regionals.