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June 27, 2009

Watson takes first step

Hornet golfer signs scholarship offer from Jacksonville’s Lon Morris College

By Tom Waddill

Nathan Watson is excited. Excited and relieved.

The recent Huntsville High School graduate is excited because he’s going to college this fall with a golf scholarship in hand. Watson is relieved because there was a day not too long ago when his dream of playing college golf looked rather bleak.

“This is a big stress reliever,” Watson said Saturday, a few days after signing his scholarship offer from Lon Morris College, a two-year school in Jacksonville that has a strong golf program. “It was a stressful time this spring. I didn’t know where I was going to go to school, and now it’s happening.”

The top medalist at the District 18-4A tournament this spring, Watson spent many hours fretting, trying to figure out where he was headed after concluding a successful high school golf career. A senior leader, Watson helped Huntsville return to the Class 4A State Golf Championships in May, but for some reason he did not attract much interest from four-year universities.

Frustrated, Watson did not know what to do next. His mother, Lucinda, did. She sent out letters and e-mails and told golf coaches about her son.

Suddenly, Watson began hearing from college coaches. He took three campus visits — to Florida Tech, a four-year NCAA Division II school, to Hill College, a junior college in Hillsboro and to Lon Morris. Immediately, he was sold on Lon Morris and the Bearcats’ winning program.

“Lon Morris has a lot of tradition, it’s the oldest junior college in the state of Texas, and their golf program is ranked number one in the state of Texas. So that was a hands-down pick,” Watson said. “They finished fifth in the national tournament, but their number one player broke his wrist right before the tournament.

“It’s really pretty in Jacksonville. The campus is kind of old-style, and it wasn’t in the desert somewhere like Hill College. The facilities they had there were good. Everything was clean, and everything was mainly new. I also liked the golf courses. They are similar in some aspects to the courses here in Huntsville, but they have more rolling hills and some of the holes are tighter.”

Watson’s parents are thrilled to see their youngest boy accomplish another goal. Starting at a junior college may not have been on the radar a few months ago, but his father believes Nathan can learn a lot and take the steps necessary toward his ultimate objective, which is getting an education and playing golf at a four-year university.

“Nathan wants to play Division I golf,” Eric Watson said. “Lon Morris has the kind of program that, in his mind, offered him the best chance of reaching his goal. Honestly, I didn’t want Nathan to be going off to school just to be playing golf. But hopefully, he will find a way to get an education and play a little golf along the way.”

Huntsville golf coach Marcus Evans believes Watson made a wise decision when he chose Lon Morris. If Watson continues the hard work that started back in middle school, the Hornets’ coach says the sky’s the limit.

“As Nathan goes to school, does his job in the classroom and continues working on his game, everything will work out like he wants it to,” Evans said. “I’ve talked to many Division I golf coaches, and they like recruiting successful junior college players. They’ll recruit both junior college and high school players and fill their rosters with a combination of players.

“If Nathan continues to develop he will have some options when the time comes. He’ll also have two years of college under his belt.”

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