Golf is a popular sport, less popular than some other sports, but that doesn’t stop freshmen Colten Mausey from being a few swings away from his goals. Mausey, from a young age, decided “I just didn’t like football” in a town where the main sport takes place on the gridiron. He also tried baseball and basketball, but he didn’t feel a connection like the one he had with golf.
After playing these other sports, Mausey decided to try something else. At the age of 11, he started golfing. This was because his mom, dad, and grandpa all played in high school.
“I played since most of my family played it.”
This helped him get into the sport. His parents were an inspiration, just like “Max Homa inspires [him].”
Mausey practices almost every day unless the rain, snow, or other forces stop him from being able to. He played in junior high when he got the chance and went all the way to sectionals. He plays almost every weekend with his family including his dad and grandpa. Mausey has even skipped hanging out with his friends to practice golf or golf with his family.
Although this was a sport he started to love, he had a change of heart in the winter of 2022 to early 2023. It was cold and he got tired and started to get bored with doing the same thing every day for the past years when he loved it. He stopped practicing as much and just in general didn’t play golf as much as he used to. Sometime after that, a “sheer amount of wanting-ness” and mass amount of encouragement from friends and family was the driving force behind him getting back into the sport he loved.
Mausey joined the golf team as a freshman in high school when the opportunity got to him. He placed top six out of twenty-two by the end of the golf season for the Carterville Lions golf team.
When asked about his future after his wavering feelings, he simply states “I am doing the golf team next year.”
At this point time in life, he wants to continue his education, and to do that is by getting a scholarship at his preferred university, the University of Tennessee (Tennessee Volunteers). When tasked with such a difficult plan, he says ”We’ll figure it out” since the acceptance rate is 33.3% for out of state applicants.
He continues to practice until that day. Although his larger goal in life is to make a career out of this sport he loves. He wants to do the PGA tour in his time, even though it would be difficult. His friends hope he will succeed even if that means a few missed hangouts are at stake. Colten is driving his way to his future on the golf course to make a career for himself. For incoming golfers, Colten says “ It’s a hard and dark path, with lots of highs and lows, just don’t give up easily.” — Colten Mausey
Even with the highs and lows, Colten is still pursuing that scholarship at the University of Tennessee, and a PGA tour in his life. If you want to keep up-to-date on Colten’s story and the golf team for next year’s season follow @cartervilleath on Instagram and Twitter for regular updates.
