One might think that grinding out a 10th-place finish at the 4A state golf tournament a little over a month ago would be a reason to take it easy during the summer months, in celebration of a job well done.
Not if you’re Charlie Mroz.
The soon-to-be-senior at Redmond High School has worked on his game harder than ever since the state tournament and recently earned berths into two prestigious junior events. Coming up next week is the Junior World Championships held at famed Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego July 12-16, and later this month Mroz will be playing at the Junior Americas, a team event which will be at Isleta Eagle Golf Course in Albuquerque, N.M from July 27-29.
Should Mroz win the Junior World Championship title, he will be in pretty good company. Current and former PGA Tour stars Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Nick Price, Corey Pavin and Craig Stadler all won this event in their youth.
“I’m really excited,” said Mroz on qualifying for the Championships. “It’s probably my biggest breakthrough, I finally figured out my game and gotten through to something where I can show my name.”
Torrey Pines, site of the 2008 U.S. Open won by Tiger Woods, is unique being a difficult municipal golf course with a lot of history, a challenge that Mroz looks forward to tackling.
“It’s supposed to be nice weather, but it can get windy and the greens are going to be very fast,” he noted. “It’s going to be a very tough course.”
Although he would love to win the event, the Junior World event is a huge international draw, hosting some of the top players from Asia, Europe and all corners of the United States – making Mroz set his sights for survival among the tough competition and course conditions.
“My goal is to make the cut, and put a respectable number up,” he said. “I’m not trying to win it, but it wouldn’t hurt. I’m just looking at it realistically.”
For the Junior Americas, where groups of four golfers representing 12 states, several Canadian provinces and Mexico, fight it out for state supremacy, Mroz said he just wants to do all he can to help Washington take home the title.
Later this summer, Mroz will try to better his runner-up finish of 2009 at the Pacific Northwest Golf Association match play event in Tacoma, and is also looking to improve at the U.S. Amateur Qualifier in Oregon.
Clearly, no rest for the weary.
“I’ve been going out almost every day, hitting balls and practicing, and I’ll play a nine every once in a while,” said Mroz on his summer practice regimen. “I’ve actually been hitting the ball poorly, but I’ve been putting really well so that’s been saving me, but I finally figured out what I’ve been doing wrong with my irons. I’m hitting it a lot better now.”
And in just a couple months, it’ll be time for Mroz’s final go-round playing high school golf, where he has made the state championship every year, even as a freshman.
“It’s going to be kinda depressing, being my last year, but on the same level it will be exciting to move on,” Mroz explained. “I have a feeling I will play (in college), but I just don’t know where yet. I’m talking to a lot of schools, but haven’t finalized anything yet.”
If Mroz can keep up his stellar play as of late, he will certainly play at the next level.
