For the 4th year in a row, Hacienda Golf Club will send one of its own to the United States Amateur Championship. This is the most prestigious event in all of amatuer golf, and it takes a very high level golfer to make it there. Last week, employee, Cory Chavez, 22, qualified at Hacienda by shooting 66-69 for a total of -7. He finished at the top of the field by 5 shots. This is not the first time this event will have someone from Hacienda participating. Members Austin Amaya, Kyle De Silva and Ryan Tetrault have all qualified at their home course before. Austin has qualified once, Kyle twice and Ryan a total of three times.
As an employee, Cory’s accomplishment stands out from the rest. While he spends many hours at Hacienda, he only gets to play the course once a week if he is lucky. He has worked in the bag room for 3 years, and has become one of the members’ favorite staff. Web.com tour pro, and honorary member, Mark Anguiano notes, “I think Cory is a very deserving qualifier and is more than worthy of competing out there next week. I think his hard work and determination will pay off for him. I know this because he caddied for me in Q school last year and did an excellent job. I knew I could trust him with reading tricky putts or figuring out different shots. Best of luck to him at the U.S. Am. We will all be rooting for him.” Among other skills, Cory knows how to regrip clubs, and is also is a host for prospective members who come to Hacienda to play preview rounds. He is friendly and knowledgable about the game, not to mention an extremely hard worker.
A true Cinderella story, Cory began golf when he was 17 years old. Originally a varsity soccer player in high school, His dad bought him his first set of clubs his senior year and he began to go to the range and practice. He became good enough to play for 1 year on the high school team before continuing to play collegiately at Santiago Canyon College where he was teammates with fellow member, Austin Amaya. Having no junior golf experience, Cory had a successful college career. Cory’s goal is to become a PGA Professional. He has recently been promoted to work in the pro shop at Hacienda. He wants to pursue playing professionally in addition to learning the golf business. During his qualifier, he had over 15 members come out and follow him and says, “it was unreal the amount of support I got, and it pushed me to play well and to keep hitting good shots.” He says of Hacienda, “I have met a lot of great people that have helped me get to where I am today. I enjoy working here, and the members are some of the best group of people I have met. I want to say thank you for all the support from everyone here at the club and thank everyone for teaching me and guiding me to become a better person.”
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