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AJGA
Names HP Scholastic Junior All-America Team |
Twenty
golfers honored for their acheivements on and off the golf
course |
Twenty
of the nation’s brightest minds and junior golfers were
named to the HP
Scholastic Junior All-America Team by the American Junior
Golf Association and HP Wednesday. The 2005 team, sponsored
for the 11th consecutive year by HP, consists of 10 young men
and 10 young women who demonstrate the ability to excel both
on the golf course and in the classroom.
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To
be eligible for the HP Scholastic Junior All-America Team, boys
must have placed in the top 10 of an AJGA event, while girls
needed a top-five finish. The selections were then based on
grade-point average, class rank, SAT/ACT scores, leadership
skills, community service and writing ability. Candidates were
required to submit an essay or poem no longer than 400 words
that creatively focused on the game of golf.
This year’s overall essay winner was Whitney Neuhauser
of Barboursville, Va. Monticello High School, where Neuhauser
is enrolled as a senior, will receive a computer compliments
of HP.
These outstanding individuals will be honored at the Rolex Junior
All-America Awards Banquet Nov. 20 at the Jekyll Island Convention
Center in Jekyll Island, Ga. By being named to this team, each
player is also eligible to participate in the Polo Golf Junior
Classic – one of the most prestigious events in junior
golf – taking place Nov. 19-25 at Sea Island Golf Club
in Sea Island, Ga.
“HP is delighted once again to recognize academic excellence
with the naming of the 2005 HP Scholastic Junior All-America
Team,” said Mike Larson, HP’s Personal System’s
Group senior vice president and general manager for the Americas.
“The AJGA works hard to prepare young adults for life
after high school by instilling honor, perseverance and good
sportsmanship. HP is proud to be associated with the AJGA and
this great group of young adults.”
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Common
Glory
by Whitney Neuhauser
It was a sweltering late-summer afternoon shortly before
the beginning of the school year, as eight members of
my high school golf team and I waited for practice to
begin. We huddled near the first tee, waiting for a
group of club members to tee off before beginning a
round of qualifying. Several men drove ahead of us and
approached the first tee. We thought nothing of it as
we watched the first three men hack their drives into
the woods on either side of the fairway.
“Great,” I thought to myself. “So
much for the hopes of a two-hour round.”
However, as the fourth man made his way to the tee,
that thought quickly vanished from my mind. For you
see, the fourth player in the group had only one leg.
Despite his physical handicap, the man had a golf swing
to rival that of most respectable amateurs. Using crutches,
he hobbled onto the tee and, with the balance of a gymnast,
placed his tee into the ground. Tossing his crutches
aside, he began his pre-shot routine; one practice swing,
one look at the target, a hop closer to the ball, a
shimmy and a shake to get comfortable and then, WHAM!
His drive split the fairway and, in a blow to the ego
of every boy on my golf team, was an easy two hundred-seventy
plus yards. Calmly, he picked up his crutches and hobbled
to his cart, leaving the eight of us awestruck.
The rest of that afternoon, I could only watch in admiration
as the one-legged man patiently played the course, often
from the middle of the fairway and always with the smooth
and confident swing he showed off the first tee.
After finishing the final hole, I came to appreciate
just how much I had learned from this courageous man
that afternoon. I recognized for the first time how
much I had taken for granted my own good health and
golfing abilities. The absolute difficulty of a “normal
golf shot” and the ability to simply enjoy the
pleasure of “walking” nine holes became
respectfully clear. His desire to participate and succeed,
despite his handicap, helped me realize that some things
in life are worth more than winning trophies or receiving
recognition. Little did he know that on that on that
particular summer’s day, we had experienced a
common glory! |
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