Looking back now, it would come as a surprise to many that current senior men’s golf captain Garrett Simons did not make the cut during golf tryouts his freshman year.
Simons earned the opportunity to join the golf team in his second year at FSU after a solid summer of tournament play. He was offered a spot on the team as a walk-on. Simons said he is really glad he stuck with the game of golf and did not let being cut as freshman year stop him from golfing.
Simons came to FSU for professional golf management and had a goal set to make the golf team. When he first missed that opportunity, Simons knew he would have a second chance if he just kept trying to get better. His dedication to the sport turned out to be one of the biggest keys to success for Simons.
Simons started golfing in the summer before his freshman year of high school. He never intended to start golfing and had instead wanted to play football, basketball or baseball.
After realizing he was not big enough for the physical beating football doles to its players and through the influence of his father, he began golfing more and more and became serious about the sport just before high school. Simons grabbed a bag of hand-me-down clubs and hit the course every day he could during that summer.
According to Simons, he was an average player at Grand Ledge High School. As he progressed through high school, it became clear to him that he wanted golf to be his sport regardless of whether or not he played collegiately. He continued to practice every day possible during high school.
“I like the aspect of being able to compete against myself,” Simons said. “I didn’t have to worry about anyone else if I wanted to go practice, I could just go do it.”
If Simons was not golfing on the course, then he was working on one. Simons worked cleaning golf carts at a local golf course in his hometown, earning money for his first bag of new clubs which replace the hand-me-downs from his father.
Simons has played five to seven days a week for the last seven or eight years, according to him. There has been little time away from the game since he became driven to accomplish his own personal goals.
“Golf is really a game that you never master,” Simons said. “I’m still searching to get better.”
Through the game of golf Simons said he has learned the importance of a good work ethic and patience simply because that is the nature of the sport of golf. In order to be successful at anything, Simons thinks it requires a great deal of patience, hard work and a passion for whatever it is that keeps someone driven.
Simons will lead a golf team top heavy in upperclassmen. The 2011 fall roster includes eight seniors. As captain, Simons hopes to do be a role model to the men on his team and continue to get better at his own game every day.