Jessica Osden signs a letter of intent Monday afternoon in the lobby of Los Alamos High School to play golf for Rogers State University in Claremore, Okla. Osden’s parents Yuxi Yu and Daryl Osden witness the signing. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Los Alamos High School Senior Jessica Osden has achieved a life-long goal: to play college golf.
Osden signed to play golf Monday at Rogers State University in Claremore, Okla, and received a $6,500 athletic scholarship.
“I am really excited,” Osden said. “I’ve been wanting to play college golf since I started playing golf so it feels really nice to finally have that opportunity to play.”
Osden said she has been a golfer since age 6. She said she loves the competitiveness of the sport and how each time she walks onto the greens, it is a different experience. Plus, she said she has played on great courses. Osden played at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, which has hosted the U.S. Open. Other great golf courses include Horseshoe Bay Resort in Texas and Talking Stick Resort in Arizona. But even more than impressive golf resorts, Osden said she loves the team aspect of golf.
“The high school team, the team aspect, it was a really good experience for me,” she said. “I love being able to share moments with the team.”
Osden has played for the high school golf team for three years. Osden won the district title playing as an individual each of those years. Additionally, she placed fourth in the state in eighth grade, sixth her freshman year and second as a sophomore. Osden added the entire team won state when she was a sophomore.
“We worked so hard for it,” she said. “I was crying; everybody was crying. I walked off the 18th green and all my teammates ran up and hugged me.”
Besides competing with the high school team, Osden has played in different tours including the Rocky Mountain Junior Tour and Elites Cup. She also won the Texas-Oklahoma Junior Golf Tournament in Wichita Falls, Texas. Osden credits her coaches for helping her to be so successful. These instructors include her swing coach Jason Montoya and her high school coaches, Tim and Susan Hammock and Los Alamos Middle School Vice Principal and Golf Coach Andy Ainsworth.
Osden said the Hammocks “really showed me how to work as a team” and Ainsworth “really pushed me to try to be the best I could be.” Montoya “helped me plan course management and be able to think on my feet.”
Osden said her family also is an important influence on her golf game. She explained her father, Daryl, has been the assistant coach for the high school boys varsity golf team for 14 years and he has attended every single one of her tournaments.
“Both my parents really support me,” she said, adding that her brother also played golf.
She is excited to take her game to Rogers State University, Osden said.
“I really love the coach,” she said. “She is so sweet, and she really pushes her players. I talked to some of the girls and they were all really sweet. They showed me around and they talked to me.”
During a trip to the college, Osden said she was able to play with the golf team at one of its practices. She said the team seems close and pushes one another to be better.
“As soon as I stepped on campus, I knew that it was the place for me,” she said.
After college, Osden said she hopes to become a professional golfer, but she plans to major in business. Her other dream is to own her own business.
