Golf Scholarship in Miami for Henry J

Henry J – Y13

It has been a very busy few weeks for Y13 boy Henry J. As well as preparing for and sitting his A level exams, Henry has been preparing to take up a golf scholarship at Barry University in Miami, Florida. Henry’s preparations were boosted further last weekend when he became the youngest ever winner of one of north east golf’s most prestigious titles, The Close House Club Championship. Here, Henry discusses his progress and aspirations ahead of his move to the USA with Director of Sport, Mr. Hogarth.

You have been awarded a golf scholarship to Barry university in Miami. What are you looking forward to most?

• I’m looking forward to challenging myself further in a highly competitive golf team, training within a well renowned golf programme, meeting new golfers from all over the world including Sweden, Canada and South Africa (including Gary Player’s grandson!) But I’m also giving myself the best chance of a future career studying a degree alongside playing golf every day. Oh not to mention the all-year round sunshine!

Tell me how the process of being awarded the prestigious scholarship has worked

• The long two-year process of being awarded my scholarship has been very complex and completely different to applying to UK universities – thank goodness we had the help of a golf agent called Prodream to advise us on most of it. My GCSE (not A-Level) results were the basis for my ‘academic scholarship’, giving me an American GPA score. I began receiving offers two years ago but waited for the one I really wanted – then visited Miami to meet the coach finally in February and show him how I play. I met the golf team, and the coach then came back to me with a separate ‘sports scholarship’.

The American college golf system is renowned for producing some of the best players in the world, are you excited by the challenge?

• I’m very excited about the challenge – American universities take sport very seriously and invest a lot of resources into it, so the format of university sport is much more like the professional game with some golf tournaments broadcast on mainstream tv etc. Some universities have American Football stadiums that can seat 90,000 spectators at their games…however they won’t have half the atmosphere of St James’ Park! There’s a clearer gateway into the professional game from universities in the US more than there is anywhere else in the world.

You recently won the Close House club championship and are the youngest ever winner. What other golfing achievements are you particularly proud of?

• Winning the Junior British Masters when I was 13 was definitely my biggest motivation to become a professional golfer, and it made me become extremely focussed on new targets I set myself – like becoming a scratch golfer by the age of 15. I also met Rory McIlroy at the event who is still an inspiration to me. I have won club and county tournaments as an individual and as a team, while also having some top five finishes in national competitions.

Being away from home will test your resilience, how do you see that going?

• Living away from home will definitely be tougher on my parents than me! I’m at a huge advantage as I will be living with other members of the golf team, so I hope I’ll settle in quite quickly. I already know who I will sharing a dorm with and I am part of a golf WhatsApp group with the coach and team so I’m already learning abit about them all. Term starts in August which is much earlier than here so I will already be living at the Uni when my A Level results come out! I will come home for Christmas and summer at least – with my dirty washing!

What memories will you take away from sport at NSB?

• I will miss NSB a lot! I’ve loved the school and especially the sport which is a huge part of it. I have definitely learnt to be very competitive playing for NSB’s various teams including rugby, football, cricket, tennis and even table tennis! I’m so grateful for the school’s flexibility allowing me to golf instead of games afternoons which is testament to their ethos of encouraging pupils to flourish as individuals.

As someone who has achieved excellence in their chosen sport, what are your 3 best pieces of advice for aspiring sportsmen?

• If I had to give three pieces of advice to aspiring young sportsmen I’d say: set targets no matter how small (or big) each year, eg I set myself a two year target to reach scratch by 15, and go to America, and I never lost sight of them. It keeps you focussed and driven. Secondly I’d say to learn the importance of the psychological/mental side of sport as much as the physical so that when you have the inevitable bad days you’re able to quickly pick yourself back up again and not give up. I’ve learnt this much more lately through books like ‘Golf isn’t a game of perfect’ by world renowned sport psychologist Dr Bob Rotella who has helped the best golfers in the world including Tiger Woods. Part of my golf programme will be mental training and I’m even allocated a sport psychologist at the university. And thirdly I’d say you must commit to the sport and put the time and effort in, which means making sacrifices. As I once read ‘no matter how hard you work, someone else is working harder’.