Jason Iler '18 Recruiting Profile

My name is Jason Iler and I am a junior at Lexington Christian Academy in Lexington, Kentucky.  I will graduate from LCA in May 2018.  I have a strong desire to play golf in college and believe my growth over the past few years demonstrates that I will have the skills necessary to do so.  Although I have loved golf since I was young, I began playing golf competitively in seventh grade, at which time I had received no formal golf instruction.  After my seventh grade season I began taking lessons with Eric Geldhof, who is a PGA teaching professional and my high school coach.  Moving to high school presented new challenges as I moved from the front tees to the back tees.  Each year, though, as I grew physically, my game grew as well.  As a freshman I was 5’2” and generally scored in the mid-to-high 80’s.  As a sophomore, I was 5’6” and my scores were generally in the low 80’s, with a few tournaments where I scored in the high 70’s.  Over the past year, I experienced a significant growth spurt and now stand 6’2”.  Being bigger and stronger helped me during my junior year golf season, which took place in the summer and fall 2016.  During this season I qualified for the top five on the varsity team and remained in the top five for the entire season.  My handicap based upon last season’s play was 5.05 and our team was ranked in the top five in the state for most of the season.  Although we are a Class 1A school, we compete in the state-wide championship that includes all classes and our ranking includes all classes.  Given my physical growth and my growth as a player over the past few years, I believe it is reasonable to project that I will be playing at or near scratch golf in 2017.  I am committed to doing the work necessary to improve my golf game so that I can be a collegiate golfer.

We just completed varsity golf tryouts for the 2017 season.  Over five days at three different courses (Greenbrier Country Club, Keene Trace Golf Club, and Golf Club of the Bluegrass) I shot 81-75-76-72-74.  I actually played well overall on the first day, but two bad holes inflated my score.  I believe my scores over the last four days are a better indication of where I am as a golfer right now.  Given these scores, I am in the third position of our top five varsity golfers.  Based upon the tryouts, my updated handicap is 2.27 and my updated scoring average is 76.  Our varsity season starts in August and I will be adding additional scores to my profile over the next several weeks.

In the classroom, I work hard and currently have a 3.9 GPA.  For each of my first three years of high school I have I have received Kentucky High School Athletic Association Academic All-State First Team recognition.

Outside the classroom, I have worked as a counselor-in-training and counselor at Bluegrass Christian Camp for the past four years.  I also volunteer for my coach during the summer in connection with golf clinics he does for junior golfers.  In 2014, I was selected for the Leadership Forum at LCA, a four-year program to develop leadership among students.  I was chosen by my school to represent it at the state wide Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference in 2016.  In addition, this year I am one of two LCA representatives to the Leadership Lexington Youth Program, a city-wide initiative to develop young leaders.

Given my recent growth spurt, my swing coach and I worked on a swing change over the winter.  My swing video is now up.  I started playing junior tournaments in March.  My first few tournaments I did not score well as I was struggling with distance control and taking my new swing from my coach's indoor practice facility to the golf course.  The last two tournaments I played, however, I began to shoot scores at or near par.  In three of my last five competitive rounds I have shot scores of 70, 75, and 73.   These scores, I believe, demonstrate the direction my game is going, and I am confident that with continued hard work I can shoot scores like this more consistently.  Overall, I believe that I have the athletic ability, academic aptitude, and character needed to play collegiate golf, and I will do everything within my power to achieve this goal.