Sports

Junior attains first place at golf tournament

Junior Miranda Juarez takes a deep breath before aiming up her shot and hitting the ball across the manicured green. She said her nerves begin to melt away as one by one she goes through the 18 holes. When the time comes to stop, she anticipates her score, hoping to beat out the competition.

Juarez achieved first place in the Oak Ridge golf tournament with a score of 81 on Oct. 5.

In addition to practicing with the school golf team, Juarez takes golf lessons and participates in the Houston Golf Association Junior program.

“I practice four days a week for two hours and sometimes I play [afterwards] with the boys or the girls,” Juarez said. “They actually help me prepare for the tournament, especially the boys, because they’re more competitive. Practicing at tougher courses [also] makes [me] better, it makes me get prepared for the tournaments.”

Although Juarez began playing golf in eighth grade and practices often, she said she still struggles with nerves.

“[I get nervous] all the time,” Juarez said. “The first couple holes I was really nervous but then once you start doing better and better you say ‘I can actually do this’ and then your confidence boosts.”

Despite her nerves, Juarez managed to come out on top, beating the second place winner, Lauren Bacon from The Woodlands High School, by one point.

“At the end [when] they have the scores on the board, you look at the scores and try to figure out [how you did] before everybody else’s score gets in,” Juarez said. “Once [all the scores are in] they do a ceremony and give you a medal. I [knew] I shot an 81 [and] I was happy with my score. I didn’t know who all shot lower.”

Golf coach Steve Bruce said Juarez worked hard to earn her achievement.

“She deserves all the awards that she has won and will continue to win,” Bruce said. “Winning a golf tournament is a great accomplishment. You are all alone on the course. You have to control your emotions and play one shot at a time. It can take up to five and a half hours to complete a tournament and you have to stay focused the entire day. She did a great job of doing that.”

Like Bruce, Juarez’s mother Rosanne Juarez said her daughter's win was a joy for more reasons than one.

“[It was] like a weight was lifted off of Miranda’s shoulder,” Rosanne Juarez said. “She has worked so hard for the past two years grinding her swing out, battled doubting herself, and picking herself up after disappointments. I felt validation for her because all her hard work paid off.”

According to Miranda Juarez, winning the tournament came as a surprise.

“It felt really good winning because I wasn’t happy with my last tournament [because I had problems with my swing],” Miranda Juarez said. “It was shocking [that I won] because the other schools [that] were there are really good, so I was pretty happy that I beat them out.