Despite his relative youth, Lake Oswego sophomore Drew Woolworth has been at this long enough to not feel much pressure on his back.
A series of high-stakes tournaments have come and gone and the golfer has begun to figure out how to play in his own bubble. He simply doesn’t care about his own results or those of his competition when he’s on the street.
“I’m a shot-playing type,” he said.
Woolworth hasn’t faced much pressure this season. At least not in the simplest sense of the word.
After finishing 11th at the Class 6A state golf championship last season, a result he and his coach Adam Ruben believe would have been much different had his putter not gone cold at the most inopportune moment, Woolworth swept the the ranks in its second season. with the Lakers.
He captured a 6A individual state title two weeks ago at Quail Valley, using a first-round 69 and second-round 68 to outlast the competition. His score of 7-under 137 put him eight strokes ahead of the field.
However, ask Woolworth and they’ll tell you that they weren’t aware of the extent to which they were outperforming the competition. At least not yet. His coaches like to put their golfers’ phones on Do Not Disturb during tournament days. That way, there is no comparison as the afternoon progresses; It’s just them and the course.
“I don’t like looking at the leaderboard,” Woolworth said. “I just stay in the zone. …I can check it later. It’s not like it’s going to disappear right after it’s over. So I don’t really worry about what other people are doing.”
Lake Oswego’s Drew Woolworth shows off the flag he was given after winning the OSAA Class 6A state championship on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
On the other hand, when you’re at the top, you’re the one everyone else worries about. And Woolworth has a chance to fill that role for a few more years.
“I think it’s good for kids to see it,” Ruben said of the show, “like, ‘Hey, if you try hard, this is what you can do.’ But I think it also puts into perspective how difficult it can be.”
He added: “Drew is an anomaly.”
It’s easy to see why Ruben came to such a conclusion. Woolworth played with clubs as a baby, competed for sevens, and had relegated his other athletic hobbies to the back burner in favor of golf by age 12.
With a litany of summer tournaments just around the corner and a Callaway sponsorship in hand, Woolworth is already living “a professional lifestyle,” in Ruben’s words.
That doesn’t mean it goes overboard. Woolworth’s weekly regimen is scheduled, but essentially quite minimal. He plays golf about two hours a day and spends 45 minutes each putting, chipping and driving. Balance, he said, keeps him in check and fuels his “results-based” approach.
“You always have something to work on and play golf,” he said, “which is what I love about it.”
Woolworth’s craftsmanship has opened doors across the country. With his travels, he has gained opportunities to adapt his game to a variety of conditions, an aspect that helped guide him to the individual state title.
Quail Valley was a course I had struggled at all season. However, he had played enough that when the tournament began, windy conditions, like those he had seen at other courses, did not derail him as they did others.
Lake Oswego’s Drew Woolworth competes in the OSAA Class 6A boys golf state championship on Tuesday, May 14, 2024 at Quail Valley Golf Course in Banks.
“In Oregon,” he said, “you don’t really see much wind, especially because there are just a ton of trees and the elevation of the valley is low most of the time. I want to play more and learn how the wind affects you and how to play with the wind, that helped me.”
Also at play, Woolworth said, was a new maturation within the sport. He has added more shots to his portfolio over the last year and is becoming more intentional with each shot. He said his course management improved and he learned to feel where misses will go and how to better prepare for successive hits.
All the factors at play could come down to what Ruben believes is Woolworth’s best trait as an athlete: his ability to read and react.
“I think Drew does a really good job of not letting thoughts and swing mechanics get in his head,” Ruben said, “and flow freely.”
Woolworth didn’t have a big presence on the team this year, but with a group of seniors leaving, he’s excited to continue growing in that role in the years to come.
Count Rubén as one of those who is grateful that it is still years, plural, for his star student.
“He’s very good at leading by example,” Ruben said, “how to work hard and what hard work achieves.”
The Player of the Year award was selected by the Oregonian/OregonLive staff and contracted freelancers who cover the games.
What do you think?
Another athlete of the year.
- Girls Golf (announced May 23)
- Girls’ track (to be announced on May 28)
- Boys track (to be announced on the 29th)
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