Published: June 30, 2009 04:40 pm      

Avon golfer earns honor

In 2008, Avon’s Patrick Rodgers hardly played like a freshman, shooting par during the two-day state tournament to help his team take a runner up finish.

This season, Rodgers and the Orioles one-upped themselves. Rodgers shot two-under par and led the team to its first state championship and the school’s first state title in any sport. The sophomore’s two-day total of 142 was the second-best performance at the state meet.

“He’s quite a player now, it’s going to be real interesting to see what he’s like in two years,” Avon head coach Brent Sailor said. “He’s made a ton of progress. He works constantly at it, practicing his swing and putts. With the size that he was last year and his growth spurt this year, his swing and his approach have all been changed a little bit — he’s constantly improving and modifying what he’s doing.”

During the regular season, Rodgers earned match medalist honors at six meets. His season stroke average of 70.6 was two strokes lower than his average last year.

For his accomplishments Rodgers has been named the Hendricks County Flyer Male Athlete of the Season.

“I’ve grown a little bit and grown up also. I’ve just worked really hard and it’s nice to see my hard paying off,” Rodgers said. “I’ve been fortunate that my scores are continuing to improve. This kind of validates all the hard work I’ve put into it.”

While Rodgers’ performance at state was the highlight of his 2009 season, he had several other memorable moments. Rodgers shot eight under par (64) to medal at the North Central Invitational (an invite course record); shot five under par (67) to medal at Avon’s host invitational; and shot four under (67) at the Hendricks County meet.

“He works nonstop at it,” Sailor said. “He works at it more than anybody else on the team. He’s going to keep improving and keep growing.”

There is no offseason for Rodgers, as he will play in tournaments throughout the summer.

“I have to keep improving every aspect of my game, nobody’s perfect obviously,” he said. “I have to set goals every year and keep improving and if I can do that then the sky’s the limit for me I think.”

Rodgers’ summer got off to a great start as he won his first American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) event. He did so in runaway fashion, blowing away the field in the Sap Junior Open in Ohio. Rodgers shot a three-day total of 201 (66-64-71) which was 12 strokes better than the second-place finisher.

His second-round score of 64 was five strokes better than the previous record.

“I just played really well and it all came together for me,” he said. “It was a great way to start the summer individually. I have a couple big tournaments coming up this week and it will give me a lot of confidence.

“It’s pretty booked and I’ll continue to play a lot of competitive rounds through the winter and up until next season so my game should be sharp.”

With two seasons of high school golf still on the horizon, Rodgers hopes to capture another team state title and earn individual medalist honors at state — an accomplishment that narrowly eluded him this past season.

Rodgers entered the final hole of state competition tied with eventual winner Adam Sumrall of Mishawaka Marian. But Rodgers double-bogeyed, which led to his runner up finish.

“He had a good round going and he felt that intuition told him he could hit this shot,” Sailor said. “It’s one thing looking back and saying ‘I wish I didn’t.’ It’s another thing making that split decision.”

Those who play with Rodgers have little doubt he’ll reach his goal.

“I see great things coming out of him,” graduated Avon senior Tyler McGathey said. “I’d guess he’ll win state as an individual … if not next year his senior year.”

todd.taylor@flyergroup.com