Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School student Spencer Shropshire won the American Junior championship in Michigan on the 4th of July.
Shropshire, 16, didn't have his application accepted for the tournament until "the last minute."
"I almost didn't even get in," he explained. "I needed 10 performance stars to qualify and then had to wait to see if I got the call."
While Shropshire was "psyched" about the opportunity, he says he had no real expectations for himself going into the tournament. He went on to shoot eight under par while up against around 50 talented young golfers from all across North America.
"I made a lot of putts," he said. "Usually that's the strength of my game but it was especially good that week."
The championship win didn't "sink in" for Shropshire until just a couple of days ago.
"It's kind of a blur," he said. "It was pretty fulfilling."
Last week, Shropshire played in the U19 Golf Ontario Championships where he tied for sixth.
"I think my goal was to finish in the top ten," he explained. "The first few days of the tournament did not go well."
After failing to sink putts Shropshire has grown accustomed to making early on, he was able to turn things around later in the tournament.
"When you don't have a great day you just have to forget about it and move on," he said. "You can kind of tell within two or three holes what's going to be a weakness for the day. Then you just have to kind of get through the round and get to the range to fix it."
Finishing at par during the Golf Ontario Championships qualified Shropshire for the Canadian Junior Boys Championships in Alberta next month.
"Last year I played in it, but I didn't make the cut," he explained. "I wasn't happy because I felt that I played pretty well."
This year, Shropshire has his sights set on a top-25 finish.
"I think I already have more capabilities and I've matured more from last year," he said. "Now that I've won some tournaments I can kind of go out there knowing I'm good enough."
Shropshire is already drawing interest from Division I schools in the NCAA. After playing at the collegiate level, his goal is to join the Korn Ferry Tour before working his way to the PGA.
"I just have to keep getting better every day," he said. "I also have to keep focused on my schoolwork and get good grades."
