High school golfer wins Junior Amateur Championship

Published 7:00 am Saturday, July 27, 2019

Cameron Guidry has been playing golf since he was 4 and a half-years-old, and the upcoming high school junior has constantly worked to improve his skill set.

He still has two more years of high school golf left, and yet is already at the top of his game.

Guidry participated in the Junior Amateur Championship in Tunica, Miss. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

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Guidry had to battle against 50 other golfers, and ended up coming out on top.

Not only did Guidry win in his age group, but was also the overall champion with an even par of 216 strokes.

Guidry’s drive and skill when it comes to the sport can be attributed to his work ethic, and familial support.

“When I was growing up my older brothers all played, so I would play with them,” Guidry said.

“He was like a year old when he first picked up a club, it’s essentially been handed down to him,” Cameron’s mother Dawn Guidry said.

Cameron Guidry has participated in a number of tournaments throughout his career, but this one was his biggest victory to date.

His mindset during tournaments is simple, and that’s what allows him to perform so well.

“I always go into a tournament thinking about winning,” Cameron Guidry said.

“Then I take what I did bad in the tournament before, come home, and improve on it.”

He puts in the hours to hone his craft, saying that during the summer he’ll practice nearly every day and for hours at a time.

“I’ll hit a bucket of balls, then I’ll do putting and chipping practice for about an hour and a half,” Cameron Guidry said.

“Then I’ll go play nine to 18 holes, and then if the group wants to play more I’ll play more.”

Dawn Guidry said that she’s seen her son grow as a person and benefit from the sport in a variety of ways.

“I think because he started so young it helped him grow up fast, people always say that Cameron is so mature,” Dawn Guidry said. “It’s just made him a better person overall.”

Cameron Guidry is passionate about the sport, and wants to continue playing at higher levels.

His aspirations to continue improving mean that he makes the sacrifices now in hopes they’ll pay off later.

“A lot of people used to ask if this is something he wants to do, but this is his goal and his dream,” Dawn Guidry said. “We don’t even have to ask if he’s ready for practice, that’s the schedule he makes and he sticks to it.”

The final hole of the championship was nerve-racking for both Cameron Guidry and his family.

He was neck and neck with the golfer he’d been paired, and the two were tied with only three holes left.

A couple of mistakes were made, but in the end, when it mattered most, he hit the shot he needed to win.

“After the second round my teammates said I needed to go out and bring it home for us,” Cameron Guidry said.

“I had to win it after they said that.”