Jack Paterson Raises FHS Golf to a New Level

Although Franklin’s Jack Paterson first picked up a golf club at a rather young age, it wasn’t until the seventh grade when he began to play the sport competitively. Despite taking part in the sport with his dad for many years, things were not quite what he expected when he got to the high school golf tryouts.
“Having played the game with my father, I found that I liked the sport, as it was an individual game that put the pressure all on you and no one else,” Paterson said. “However, by the time I got to tryouts I was pretty nervous and didn’t know a thing about the team or anyone on it.”
Paterson started his high school tryouts a little shaky, but when he birdied the fourth hole, things started to go his way, and his golf game back to where he was confident. By the time the tryouts were complete, the Franklin freshman found that he earned a spot on the Panthers golf team, where he played in every match that season in the sixth or seventh spot on the eight-man roster. For the season, he shot in the mid 40’s.
Putting together a typical freshman season, Paterson knew that he needed to up his game if he wanted to become one of the better golfers in the Hockomock League.
“My first year on the team was not all that bad. Overall it went as expected, it had its ups and downs while I was trying to get use to how golf worked on the high school level,” the Franklin junior said. “Being a junior member of the Franklin Country Club, I found myself on the golf course just about every single day the summer between my freshman and sophomore years. There is a nice practice facility there, where I was consistently working on my game.”
Having been able to work extensively on his game that summer, Paterson moved up as the Panther’s number three golfer that season, where he typically was shooting gin the low 40’s with the occasional below 40 score.
“Last year Jack was a top five golfer for us, and I am expecting him to eventually become our number one or two golfer,” Coach Dusty Picillo said. “Thus far this season, he has been one the best golfers in the Hockomock League, with an average of 36.9 while playing on the one of the most challenging courses in the league. Although playing at the Franklin Country Club, he still continues to maintain a low average.”
According to the Franklin Coach, Paterson has been blowing down the doors this season, and his highest score to date has been a 38 or three over par. Picillo believes his success is because of his involvement with Kohr Academy out of Natick.
“Since joining Kohr Academy, I have found myself to be much more confident in my game,” Paterson said. “The coaching that I have gotten there has helped me in all aspects of my game, including the mental side.”
Paterson believes that Kohr is the reason that he is much more patient on the golf course this season. In the past the junior golfer founds himself rushing shots whenever he was playing bad. When he put forth a bad shot, he just wanted to get to the next shot quickly to redeem himself and in doing so was rushing his shots. This year, he is not doing that anymore, but instead taking his time.
“He’s never too high or too low. He may be having a bad hole here and there, but you would never know it,” Picillo said. “He’ll find a way to work things out and consistently put up solid rounds of golf for us.”
Paterson is not only confident in his play this fall, but he also likes the way the rest of the team has been playing. If they all continue to improve and play their game the Panthers have a good shot of capturing the league title for the second straight year.
As the Franklin season moves along and Paterson continues to pay at the top of his game, Picillo has a feeling that the junior will eventually put up a clunker of a game.
“Knowing that golf is a hard game, I keep expecting him to eventually hand me a scorecard with a 43 on it, but it hasn’t happened,” the Coach said. “He has worked real hard at improving his game, and thus far it’s worked. I believe that he can lead us to back-to-back Hockomock Kelley Rex Championships.”
As his game continues to grow Paterson can see himself playing the sport on the next level. Following high school, which is still two years away, the Franklin golfer is hoping to play on the collegiate level and thereafter.
“Golf is a nice thing to have in your life,” he said. “I was lucky enough to have gotten involved in the sport at a very early age.”
When he first began playing competitively he found himself shooting in the mid 50’s through nine holes, but he has left that score far behind him, and nowadays finds himself in the high 30’s with yet another year and a half to improve.