Jack Schultz had trouble eating his fajitas Thursday afternoon. The University of Michigan-bound golfer was trying to watch as many Masters updates as possible before heading to the Traditions' practice range to get in some final work for this weekend's American Junior Golf Association's Laredo Energy Junior.
Schultz, like the other 90 boys in the field, has visions of being at the Masters in a few years. It's not that far-fetched since the 5-foot-10, 165-pounder missed his mouth more times than he missed the fairways as he glided around Traditions during Thursday's Pro-Am.
He sank a 30-foot birdie putt on the second hole, flashing an ah-shucks grin. Overall, he wasn't spectacular, just steady. He hit the ball long and straight. It didn't bother him that his playing partner had borrowed clubs and used Schultz's at times. He has a great temperament for the sport.
Maybe hitting balls from one hole to the next on the cold, hard courses in Wisconsin will do that. Forget about holing out balls -- Schultz said the challenge often is finding land good enough just to hit them.
He's learned the game well. He won the state championship as a sophomore and is ranked No. 31 in the class of 2009 by the National Junior Golf Scoreboard. Last year he was the medalist runner-up at the Wisconsin's Junior Boys Championship and the AJGA Future Legends.
This will be his last big tournament until the summer, because Wisconsin's spring golf season starts next week.
Schultz is one of 13 players in this weekend's elite field who have signed scholarships. Texas A&M has three players in the event -- Ryan Blair of Center Valley, Pa.; Sarah Beth Davis of Victoria; and Ryan Kelley of The Woodlands.
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This is the second straight year for the AJGA tour to swing through Traditions. AJGA officials said they enjoy coming to Aggieland.
It's certainly a great recruiting tool for the Aggies.
George Garrick, a CEO in Silican Valley, has a 14-year-old son in the field. Garrick said he didn't think of A&M as a golf school until A&M was able to sign Cameron Peck of Olympia, Wash., the Rolex Junior Player of the Year last season.
Garrick said his son is still looking at UCLA, Southern Cal and Stanford at possible destinations, but the Garricks are giving Aggieland a hard look this weekend, which is probably the case for many of the juniors and their parents.
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The field of 42 girls includes A&M Consolidated's Casey Grice, who played in the 12-5A championships Wednesday and Thursday in Waco.
Consol's Mike Eyeington is in the boys field.
Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.
AJGA's Laredo Energy Jr.
When: Friday-Sunday, 8-9:30 a.m. and 12:30-2 p.m. tee-offs the first two days and 8-9:57 a.m. Sunday
Traditions Club
What: 132-field of the nation's top junior golfers
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The blame game
