by Travis Haese | Staff Writer
In a startling finish to an exceptional season, freshman Christian de la Cruz placed in the top 20 of the state golf tournament. This was as big an accomplishment for de la Cruz as it was for Johnson High School.
“It took a lot of hard work,” de la Cruz said. “Just had to make sure I went out and played solid at district and regionals to be able to get there.”
While his first year was a remarkable one, Christian will have 3 more in which to compete for the Johnson team. He aspires to continue once out of high school.
“I want to get a scholarship to play college golf at Texas A&M.” de la Cruz said.
Though many think that golf is an easy sport to play, the young athlete would strongly disagree.
“The mental aspect of golf has to be the most difficult thing about the sport,” de la Cruz said. “If you have a bad hole, you just have to get over it and continue.”
Making it to state is a feat that everyone would like to accomplish. Needless to say, few do. It is very impressive that Christian reached such heights as a freshman.
“It felt pretty cool, because I got to play with the best junior golfer in the country,” de la Cruz said. “It was a good experience, and I hope I make it the next 3 years.”
There will always be a lot of competition at the state level, especially if the competition has had a few more years of experience.
“There are some good golfers out of Cinco Ranch and Fort Van Clemens,” de la Cruz said. “They’re probably going to be my biggest challenge, because they are both freshmen like me, and they are solid golfers.”