Owensboro Catholic’s Jakob Wellman is the definition of a golfer in today’s game. He’s got swagger, he’s not afraid to take chances but most importantly, he’s got skills.
Wellman was the lone local golfer to make it to the KHSAA Boys’ Golf State Tournament where he made the cut and finished in a tie for 17th after shooting an 70-82 over the two days at Bowling Green Country Club.
It’s Wellman’s ability to control the course and excel that makes him the Owensboro Times Boys’ Golfer of the Year.
Covid-19 has been a factor for many this year and that includes high school athletes across the country.
For Wellman, that was something that definitely stood out from his junior season but also playing with some new faces this season.
“The first thing that comes to mind is different, we didn’t get to play in a lot of events this year and there were some players from last year that had graduated that I had played with for a long time,” he said.
Goals are big part of life and sports. Everyone has them. When they’re achieved it’s great and fulfilling but when they’re not, it just makes that person work that much harder.
The Ace standout said despite the success, he wasn’t where he wanted to be this season but that just makes him want to work that much harder during his final season at Catholic.
“Some goals were to win region as a team and finish in the top-10 at state,” he said. “I didn’t reach either of those goals but look forward to doing so next year.”
As stated, Wellman did have successes this season. Making the cut was definitely one of those and he said he could build on that.
“I’m going to use it as a guide to get through the first day well again and use what I had learned on the second day from myself and other competitors to finish off strong.”
Wellman plays golf year-round so he doesn’t get much of a break during the winter but for him, he enjoys the grind and getting better.
“I’ve been working hard on both the swing and short game to get prepared for some early AJGA’s this spring and will use those experiences to have a strong senior year,” he said.
Catholic coach Bretnea Turner was with Wellman every step of the way during his state tournament run and she knows what her junior golfer is capable of.
“When I first met Jakob as a middle Schooler, it was evident that he had a talent for golf, but as I’ve said before, talent only takes you so far,” she said. “He joined our team as the youngest member, alongside a few upperclassmen that took him under their wings. In the years since those upperclassmen have graduated, Jakob has become a consistent leader of our team.”
As Turner said, talent only takes one so far but she’s seen the work Wellman has put into his game.
“Jakob works about as hard as I have ever seen any athlete work at his sport,” she said. “This is a daily grind for him, both technically and mentally – in and out of season. Since he came to Owensboro Catholic, I have watched Jakob mature into a young man that has some lofty and accomplishable goals and that is not something you can say for every kid who plays sports. Golf is a sport that requires an immense amount of maturity and at our level, we are talking about teenagers.”
One of Wellman’s strengths on the course is his ability to remain calm no matter the situation. He’s realized long before most that one bad hole shouldn’t ruin an entire round.
Turner said he’s put in the time to be able to do that.
“Jakob recognized that early, and has worked diligently to develop a mentality on the golf course that allows him to harness his focus, keep his emotions in check, while still enjoying the round with the other young man he plays with,” she said. “Specifically this year, we had several middle schoolers join and you can imagine that upperclassmen maybe don’t always want to spend their time with younger kids, but our team doesn’t work that way.
“Jakob and the others joined the golf team when they were very young, and had upperclassmen to look up to. Now they are those upperclassmen, and it’s such a great experience for the younger players on our team to have them to look up to, especially a player like Jakob who has a calm demeanor, but a fire for competition. As a coach, that’s exactly the kind of kid you need on your team as a leader.”
Wellman was walking the course this season as Apollo’s Macey Brown won a state title at BGCC. He said watching her accomplishment will help feed him even more next season.
“It’s good for golf in Owensboro and good for the town in general,” he said. “It’s good to have a winner that carries themselves maturely and it’s going to push me to get the win next year.”
