As the clock ticks on the high school career of senior state titleholder Colin Kober, it's no surprise he has committed to a Division I school to continue his sport at the next level. With a verbal commitment back in February 2015, Kober sealed the deal in early November, signing the dotted line on the Baylor paperwork.
Kober is ranked No. 27 in the 2016 class and No. 4 in Texas among 2016 signees, according to a report put out by Baylor Athletics. He recorded five top-10 finishes in 2015, including a pair of tournament wins, the report says. "Kober won the 2015 Texas UIL 6A High School Championship with scores of 69-73=142, and he won the 2015 AJGA Davis Love Invitational with scores of 72-67-70=209. He joins Texas' No. 2 ranked Cooper Dossey (Vandergriff High School, Austin) and 21st-ranked Travis McInroe (Plano West) to complete the recruiting class for the Bears."
“I am excited about this class for several reasons,” head coach Mike McGraw said. “These three players are all good, quality young men who are highly-ranked players in the state of Texas. Recruiting at home is very important to me.”
The report continues, Kober also placed third at the 2014 AJGA at Timarron after shooting 67-71-70=208, took fifth place at 2015 AJGA Valero Texas Open with scores of 73-78-71=222, and he tied for 10th at the 2015 AJGA Hunter Mahan after shooting 73-75=148.
While the Bears were an ideal choice for him, Kober wasn't considering the school at first, scoping out Illinois, Auburn, Texas Christian and Pepperdine. When push came to shove, his requirements were met by Baylor.
"I always wanted to go to school with high academic standards and goodbron the golf course as well," Kober said. "I always admired coach McGraw. I had to play forbrhim."
Starting as a freshman during the 2016-17 season, he hopes to play as much as he can through hard work to make the team's top five line up. Carroll's tradition helped put him in this position.
"The biggest thing about the Southlake program, especially golf, is the seniors left me [with the idea that] you always have to keep working and compete hard. There may be guys known better around the world, but you got to keep working and outplay them and outwork them. That’s the biggest thing I’ve passed down to [the underclassmen]. If you want it bad enough, just work hard."
In addition, Kober has learned through the Carroll tradition to be above excuses and do things the right way every single day.
He originally found golf through playing with his father, but never thought he'd take up the sport seriously until eighth grade. After a shoulder injury, Kober decided to drop baseball and basketball and focus on golf. He realized he had a shot at Division I during his sophomore season.
One year later, he won a state championship, his favorite career moment.
"Walking down the last hole, I got to see my teammates and won thebrstate championship," he said. "It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen, how all of our hardbrwork went into it. I really enjoy every golf tournament I get to play with thisbrteam."
Kober aspires to enroll in the business school at Baylor with a focus on either finance or accounting. His father is an attorney.
"If somehow golf doesn’t work out, I wantbrto go to law school after [undergraduate study]," he said. That’s the best path for me to go into businessbrschool."
After school, Kober will take his chances with the PGA, coming back home to Southlake to play Texas events and try to qualify for the tour.
Kober attributed his successes to his parents, Carroll High School golf head coach Matt Glenn, and fellow teammate Mason Greenburg. As a fellow Texas-top-five-ranked golfer, Greenburg has pushed Kober to new levels through competition and hard work.
"They have been very supportive of my golf game and trusted me as a personbrand a golfer," he said.
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