For freshman Austin Kaiser, playing golf in college was a rude awakening.
He realized other golfers could perform just as well as he did, and balancing a love life, academics, a job, and golfing is anything but easy.
Kaiser, however, was one of two golfers at Allan Hancock College who finished in the top 10 at the California Community College Championships at the Kings Country Club in Hanford on May 16. Kaiser tied for fifth with a one-under 71, and freshman Matt Sobczak tied for eighth to finish at four-over 148.
Kaiser, who attended Atascadero High School, finished with a final combined score of 147: three over par. He explained that he didn’t do as well as he could have during the first half of the competition, but he played with “no fear, so that kind of helped” toward the end.
“My confidence was higher than it was all season,” he said.
In high school, Kaiser was a four-year varsity player who was named league MVP and all-CIF his senior year. He also had the honor of being named All-League all four years, and team MVP his sophomore, junior, and senior years.
Next season, Kaiser hopes to finish in the top four or five at the Western State Conference, and move on to the state finals. He already has a job lined up at a golf shop, so he hopes this will encourage him to keep playing during the summer.
At the moment, Kaiser is taking business classes, but he’d like to look into majoring in sports medicine. He’s pretty mellow, though, when it comes to his future.
“I just take it day by day,” he said.
This article appears in May 26 – Jun 2, 2011.