FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) – Leo grad Justin Hicks’s love for golf grew from encouragement from his next-door neighbors.
“I used to play baseball, and I got injured in baseball and then just went with them to the golf course one day and was pretty good just never playing, and they were really encouraging me to keep going with it,” Hicks said.
Hicks took his friends’ advice and wound up earning a scholarship to play college golf close to home at Purdue Fort Wayne.
“I was so excited to start my first college season,” Hicks said. “The fall went alright, and we had a lot of fun as a team.”
In December, while on winter break though, Hicks’s freshman season with the Dons changed in an instant.
“I was playing pickup basketball over winter break and fell on [my leg] weird and tore the ACL and meniscus,” Hicks said. “I knew right when I went down. Definitely a lot of just sadness and a little bit of anger.”
Despite the disappointment and his inability to play in the spring, Hicks got to work, and prepared to return. His determination to get out of the rough and back on the fairway caught the eye of his coach, Billy King.
“He was devastated,” King said. “He felt he let himself down, the team down, but I’ve never seen a kid work so hard to get back.”
“I just love the game so much, so working on it feels like fun to me,” Hicks said. “It’s easy to put in the hard work, and it’s fun to see the results pay off.”
Those results paid off in full when Hicks won the Fort Wayne Golf Association’s 100th City Tournament. It was his first tournament since the injury.
“It means the world,” Hicks said. “Not having played a tournament since last October, it’s so good to be back out here and just so thankful to win my first event back.”
With a title and the recovery process now under his belt, Hicks can’t wait to get back to work for the ‘Dons.
“I’m so excited, and seeing the team play well too just makes it even better,” Hicks said. “I think we’re going to have a lot of success this fall, and I’m looking forward to it.”
PFW men’s golf begins the fall season on Sept. 8 at the Marshall Invitational.
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