CHA’s Soowal rising in ranks of amateur golf
Mike Soowal (Photo by Tom Utescher)
by TOM UTESCHER
As a tenth grader this past spring, Mike Soowal helped lead Chestnut Hill Academy to a tie for the Inter-Ac League golf championship, and judging by the work he’s putting in this summer, Soowal’s serious about retaining the title.
After winding up in a three-way tie for second place at the Inter-Ac Tournament to finish the school season, the rising junior has been honing his game in practice and in competition, and has broken into the top 100 in the national 18-and-under rankings for the first time.
He was ranked 84th at the beginning of August, and he spent last week playing at a 54-hole tournament in Western Pennsylvania, where he registered rounds of 69, 73, and 75 at Tom’s Run, a par-72 course outside of Pittsburgh. This and many other tournaments around the country are operated under the auspices of the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).
“I’ve been working on my driving and trying to hit as many fairways as possible,” said Soowal, who is trained in the off-season by Gary Hardin, a pro at Northampton Country Club near Bethlehem. “I’ve been focusing on my mental game, trying to play smart and keep setting myself up well for my next shot.”
In regard to particular strokes, he’s been working on a drive that fades laterally.
He explained, “It’s a controlled shot a lot of the pro’s use that starts left of center and then fades into the middle. It’s been working for me pretty well this summer.”
In mid-June, Soowal played at the Dunlop Carolina Junior Championship in Greenville, S.C. He turned in a score of 222 (76/72/74) for the 54-hole event at the Green Valley Country Club, earning 13th place.
Ideally, Soowal would’ve ended his summer by playing in the U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club later this month, but he missed the qualifying cut by five strokes.
He’ll still be on the course, however, as he caddies for his friend Kyle Stanley, a high school senior from Washington State who was ranked 20th in the country in the most recent poll. Only one Inter-Ac League player qualified for the event, Malvern Prep senior Cole Wilcox.
Soowal plans to compete once more before classes resume at Chestnut Hill. Over Labor Day Weekend, he’ll be heading down to Mobile, Ala. to play in the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Junior Tournament at Magnolia Grove Golf Club.
“The [AJGA] tournaments are big for college recruiting,” noted the CHA player, who hopes to follow his father and two older sisters to Clemson University. “There are a bunch of colleges out there. Clemson is looking at me, along with Oklahoma State, and I’m getting a lot of exposure.”
