Prep golfer more worried about English test than pro tour debut
It was understandable for Carter Jenkins to feel incredibly nervous last Tuesday evening. After all, the 15-year-old Leesville Road (N.C.) High golf star was just two days away from competing in his first professional golf tournament. In fact, the surprising thing wasn't that Jenkins was nervous, but what he was nervous about.
When asked whether he was more concerned about appearing in the Nationwide Tour Rex Hospitals Open, which concluded on Sunday, or a major test in his English class, Jenkins hardly hesitated: He was probably more worried about the test.
"That's a tough one because English is my worst subject," Jenkins, who became the third-youngest player to ever appear on the Nationwide Tour, told the News & Observer.
To be fair, Jenkins didn't get much of a lead-in to build up concern about his professional debut. According to the News & Observer, the sophomore UNC-Greensboro commit earned a spot in the Nationwide Tour event by winning the Rex Hospitals Open Junior Tournament the prior weekend.
In retrospect, perhaps Jenkins should have been more concerned about the Rex Open; in his two-day appearance before failing to make the cut, Jenkins fired a combined 156 during his two days on the course.
Professional struggles aside, the News & Observer claimed that the booksmart golfer holds at least an A- average in all his courses, anyway.
Still, the rough first day hardly dampened Jenkins' optimism for a big week in his second year of scholastic competition … test included.
"I gathered myself on the back side," Jenkins told the News & Observer. "[The week was] crazy."
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