Mountain Home teen wins golf course championship

Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Marcus Egusquiza has been golfing since he was six years old. He recently bested the community's top golfers to win the city's golf championship.

Marcus Egusquiza picked up his first golf club when he was just six years old and played his first round by the time he was 10.

His passion for the sport yielded even greater rewards last month after he won the Desert Canyon Golf Course's annual championship tournament. He achieved the feat before he celebrated his 17th birthday.

The teen remembers the first time his parents took him to the golf course, where they introduced him to the sport. At the time, Marcus was still too short to hold an actual golf club, so his father took a putter and cut it down to size.

Over the next four years, he continued to go with his parents each time they went to the local golf course which allowed him to hone his skills. When he was ready, he played his first 18-hole round but admitted he didn't do very well.

"I don't think I even kept score because it was more for fun," Marcus said.

At first, he thought his enjoyment of golf would be a "passing thing," but by the time he turned 12, it became a part of his life. He would go to the golf course every day to practice his putting skills while adding chip shots to his regimen.

It was a chance meeting with other players that convinced him to devote more time to the sport.

"I played with a couple of college kids that were going to a Division I school, and I noticed that they were better than I was but not by much," he said. "I just had to tighten up a couple of aspects of the game. That keeps me going."

Simply put, it was the missed shots that were hampering his game. To keep those shots more accurate, he devoted more time focusing in on each swing from the tee to the final putt.

To remain competitive, he invests hundreds of hours at the course each summer to practice or play a few rounds. On an average day, he'll stop by the links each morning for three to four hours and return in the evening for another hour.

His average drive at the tee is 300 yards.

In October, he put those years of practice to the test when he participated in the tournament of champions. Preparing for the event, Marcus knew he needed to focus more on the game if he hoped to do his best.

"There are a lot of good players in Mountain Home, but at the tournament of champions all the best players from every course are there," he said.

During the championship tournament, he shot a 73 on the first day and carded a 75 the following day. Par for the course is 71.

In addition to thanking his parents for introducing him to the sport, he also credited golf pro T.J. Gomez at the Desert Canyon Golf Course and Steve Vedder at the Silver Sage Golf Course at Mountain Home Air Force Base for helping him perfect his skills.

While he's had years of practice, the teen admits there really isn't an "easy part" to the sport with the exception of driving the cart from one hole to the next.

"It's more mental than anything," he said. "You have to keep your head in the game and not get out of it."

But it's sinking the putt that remains the toughest aspect of the game, he added.

"You have to hit a little ball into a little hole and you have to read the 'break' and know how hard to hit it. It's tough," he said.

There really isn't a science to making a successful putt, he added. It all comes down to instinct and getting a "feel" for the course.

A junior at Mountain Home High School, Marcus hopes to take his passion for golf on to college and then see where it takes him from there.