Every month, we recognize one female and one male student-athlete. This month we recognize sophomore Mateo Zazueta. 

Zazueta swings into success on the varsity golf team at Birmingham Community Charter High School. This is his second year on the team and hopes he can improve in the future. 

Q: What was your first impression of golf?

A: It’s hard, I was little, I have these clubs. I don’t really know what I’m doing. All I know is I hit the ball and it doesn’t go where I thought it would go. 

Q: How long have you been playing golf?

A: Maybe 10 years on and off.

Q: Who taught you?

A: My dad, my grandpa and then I got a little bit of coaching about a year or two ago.

Q: What has been the most exciting part of golf?

A: It’s nice, I wouldn’t say it’s a thrilling sport. It feels very personally fulfilling, when you accomplish something yourself, because it’s all on you. You can’t blame it on anybody else. So when you mess up, you mess up and that’s your fault. But when you do well, it’s all on you and you can celebrate that you are the sole reason you did well. 

Q: How do you balance school work with golf?

A: Pretty easily. I feel like I don’t have a lot of stress from my classes and golf itself is not stressful. 

Q: Do you plan to continue playing golf in high school?

A: Yes, because I’ve been enjoying it and it’s nice. It’s a way to get out there in the illusion of nature in a big city. 

Q: What attracted you to golf?

A: It’s calming, it’s relaxing, it’s fun and it’s very independent. 

Q: What are your future plans for golf?

A: To keep playing to get better.

Q: What are ways you think you could improve your golfing skills?

A: To work on my Driver. Driver is big, it’s round, it’s supposed to go the farthest.

Q: What have you done to improve as a golfer this year?

A: Practiced a little more and paid more attention to what I’m doing.

Q: What piece of advice would you give to others who are interested in joining golf?

A: Just do it. You’re not going to be amazing off the spot, but you improve by practice. It’s just practice, practice, practice. You’ll get better.