By Jordan Spieth
Special to The Texas Catholic

June 2010 was my last full month as a 16-year-old. Wow! That went fast! And now I’m less than two months from my senior year at Jesuit. I’m sure that will go just as fast!
 
June turned out a little different from originally planned. I had finals June 1-4, which came up quickly after playing in the state high school tournament, the HP Byron Nelson Championship and the AJGA Thunderbird in three of the previous four weeks.

Luckily, I had most of the week before finals to get caught up, so I was able to do well. After a night off after my last final, my dad, Jimmy Marino and I jumped in the car Saturday morning and headed to Memphis for the U.S. Open qualifier and the St. Jude Classic. I came up three strokes short in the 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier, and then missed the cut at the St. Jude by one stroke.

Although disappointed that I missed a chance to play my first U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and missed the weekend at the St. Jude, it was still a great week in terms of learning and meeting some great new friends. We drove home June 12 and I think Jimmy and I slept three-quarters of the trip. Thanks for the ride, dad!

Now I had a full 10 days to prepare for the Texas State Amateur at Royal Oaks and the Byron Nelson Jr. at Lakewood — seven consecutive days of competition to finish out June. And I needed the 10 days to work out and work on my game. The State Amateur and the Byron Nelson Jr. were great events, as always.

The Texas Golf Association, Texas Legends, Royal Oaks, and Lakewood staffs did a fabulous job. The golf courses were perfect, and the competition was great. I couldn’t get my putter going at Royal Oaks and finished in a disappointing tie for fifth place.

But I was successful in defending my Byron Nelson Jr. title. I really appreciated that Mrs. Nelson came out to watch us play at Lakewood. What an honor to win a tournament with Mr. Nelson’s name and legacy attached to it!

The next day, July 1, I left for a week off in Mexico with a friend from Jesuit and his family — a much-needed break! No golf, just beach, water, and a lot of food. It was a great break and chance to rest my body before my last three tournaments of the summer — the U.S. Junior, the Western Amateur and the U.S. Amateur.

My two top priorities for this summer are to repeat as the U.S. Junior champion and to win the U.S. Amateur. The U.S. Junior is July 19-24 at Egypt Valley in Ada, Mich., and the U.S. Amateur is at Chambers Bay just south of Seattle August 23-29. In the middle is another great amateur event, the Western Amateur in Chicago the first week of August. All three are stroke play to advance and then marathon match play to determine the champions.

At the Junior Amateur, I have a chance to become only the second repeat winner. Tiger Woods won three in a row from 1991-1993. If I prevail next week, I will get a shot at three straight in Washington next year.

Finally, the last week of August, I will have my second shot at the U.S. Amateur and a chance to qualify for the 2011 Masters and U.S. Open.

What an opportunity — I feel so blessed to have such a great family, friends and community supporting me while I chase my dreams!

Dallas resident Jordan Spieth, the nation’s top-ranked junior golfer, will be a senior at Jesuit College Preparatory School in the fall. He became the sixth-youngest golfer to make a PGA Tour event cut in May, when he played in the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

(c) 2010 The Texas Catholic