Morgan began playing for the varsity team his freshman year, but the Wayland team isn’t the only golf organization that Morgan is a part of.
Since the summer of 2011, the summer preceding his freshman year, Morgan has participated in the New England Professional Golfers’ Association (NEPGA) Junior Tour. The NEPGA JR Tour offers competitions for specific age groups of amateur golfers between the ages of nine and 21.
In the summers of 2012 and 2013, Morgan placed in the top 10 of the NEPGA JR Tour standings, making him eligible for the championship round. In 2012, he won the championship, shooting a 76 at the Indian Pond Country Club in Kingston, MA. He finished fourth out of 230 golfers in the 2012 final summer standings.
In 2013, Morgan placed fourth in the championship at the Kirkbrae Country Club in Lincoln, RI with a score of 84. This past summer, Morgan also competed in the Elite NEPGA JR Tour for the first time. In order to be eligible for the Elite Tour, players must have a handicap of 9.9 or lower.
In golf, a handicap signifies a player’s potential in terms of strokes relative to par. A lower handicap indicates that a player is likely to score closer to par than a higher handicap. So, the lower the handicap, the better the player. The standard par for a course is 72.
According to the United States Golf Association, 31.31% of male American golfers have a handicap of 9.9% or lower. The US Census Department and National Golf Foundation report that just 5% of golfers are under the age of 30, indicating the rarity of this score for a 17-year-old player.
Despite his success in competition, tournaments aren’t Morgan’s favorite part of the sport. He prefers the practice.
“There’s always room for improvement,” Morgan said. “You are never going to be perfect.”
Looking forward, Morgan is considering playing competitive golf in college. But regardless of whether or not he chooses to, Morgan anticipates playing recreationally for the rest of his life.
