Name: Jessica Joy
Year: senior
Hometown: Hinsdale
When did you start golfing?
I picked up golf a few weeks before freshman year tryouts.
What do you enjoy most about the sport?
I like the fact that you can see improvement. Your score itself is pretty direct feedback of all the work you put into it, so you can see the improvement pretty quickly.
What is your greatest strength?
I approach the game of golf as an athlete having played different sports growing up other than golf (on varsity lacrosse team). Golfers, I feel, are very tactical and planned out with how they approach everything. I kind of play more in-the-moment golf.
How much of the game is mental?
I'd have to say 80 percent of the game is mental. My swing hasn't changed all that much in the past year and a half, but the times I'm playing my best golf is when I'm the most confident about it.
Do you have any special habits on the course?
I will only carry my golf clubs. I refuse to push a cart. That's one of my weird things.
What is your goal for the season?
I think our ultimate goal is to get downstate this season. The program has a history of getting down there every year.
What course would you most like to play?
Royal Portrush, where the British Open was this year. I love Rory McIlroy. He has to be one of my favorite golfers and that's his home course. It's such a pretty course. They talk about it being one of the most challenging golf courses of the world. I'd like to see what kind of score I'd post there.
Why does coach Nick Latorre like having Joy on the team?
I enjoy having Jessica on the team because she has an incredible amount of enthusiasm for the game of golf, she is a great teammate and works exceptionally hard on her game as well as in the classroom. Her leadership skills have blossomed, and she is a great role model for all of the young players in our golf program. She has really been a pleasure to coach and be around every day.
- profile by Pamela Lannom, photo by Jim Slonoff
- A different Central student will be selected each week by his or her coach to be profiled.
