After qualifying for state two years in a row, undefeated at conference and winning multiple tournaments as a junior, senior Jude Elgert is ready to use his strengths to make it back to state this season and help his team.

“I really want to place as an individual at state this year,” Elgert said.  “I just want to break 75 a few times this year and win a few tournaments individually and as a team.”

Elgert’s goals seem modest, but his coaches are expecting a lot more out of him.

“I am hoping he’s able to accomplish winning a few tournaments as an individual, being an individual state qualifier and finishing his career as a state medalist, as well as lead the team to another conference title and our first district title this season,” head coach Taylor Teeter said.

Teeter believes that hitting the little milestones will help Elgert when it comes to the tougher part of the season.

“Jude’s biggest strength is his ability to calmly scramble out of bad situations and/or limit the trouble he gets into during a round,” Teeter said. “He has a great mentality for competitive golf, in that he understands the importance of limiting ‘blow-up’ holes, by analyzing the risk/ rewards of his options and taking the option that is going to hurt his round the least and prevent making the situation worse.”

While Jude has been improving his skill and learning the mental side of the game, his coaches are noticing what it can do for him.

“Jude has been very involved as a part of our team leadership last season and this season, while he has continued to make great progress on his game, which has started gaining the attention of college coaches,” Teeter said. 

Elgert realized he could become a collegiate golfer, and it was on his mind even throughout the football season.

“If I can get money for golf in the future, I will definitely do golf over football because it’s less stress on your body and you can use it your whole life,” Elgert said.

Elgert’s mom, assistant golf coach Paula Elgert, believes that golfing in the future won’t just help him in his college experience but also in the workforce.

“He is wanting to pursue a career in business, and knowing how to play golf is helpful when closing big deals and developing a marketing strategy in the event he goes into sales,” Paula said. 

Elgert’s coaches agree that golf will help him in his future career, but Elgert sees golf as more than that.

“I like to golf because most of the time it’s peaceful and you can just forget about everything else that’s on your mind,” Elgert said.