High schools offer a variety of sports. So why do certain students choose golf out of the many other options?

“I play golf because it is a fun sport to play, it’s also a very competitive sport, and it’s a lifetime sport,” senior Josiah Belyeu said.

“I am in golf because I wanted to play an individual sport,” junior Elaine Terrell said.

Other students play the sport because they enjoy the challenge .

“Some people think it’s really easy, until you play, it’s actually really hard, so that’s why I play golf,” freshman Braden Wilson said.

“I really like it because it is very challenging so I decided to practice at home and get better,” sophomore Ksheera Jalakam said.

Some Heritage golfers also learn more than just how to play the sport.

“It teaches a lot about honesty, integrity, it’s also a sport where you call your own penalty shots on yourself, and it’s about the only sport that will do that. So it’s a good sport to teach kids how to grow up,” Head Golf Coach Jeremy Byers said.

“I think it teaches you a lot of life lessons, because unlike other sports, when you play golf, you can really do well one day, and the very next day you crash and burn, which is a lot like life to me because, when something happens one day, it’s not guaranteed to be the same the next,” Jalakam said.

While the players learn valuable lessons from being in the sport, they also have the opportunity to meet other people.

“The benefits [are] playing a sport that you can play for life and also building relationships with people from other schools that you [do] not see on a daily basis,” Belyeu said.

“Whenever we go to tournaments, you are in a team, like the people you are playing against from other schools, you’re with. So I made friends, just from playing against them,” Wilson said.

From making friends to learning lessons, students believe these are the benefits of playing such a strenuous sport.

“Oh, it is tiring. But it’s worth it, it’s so worth it,” sophomore Insia Mustafa said.