Aidan McLachlan '21 Recruiting Profile

Hello, my name is Aidan McLachlan and I am from Dallas, Texas.

I have played golf for as long as I can remember starting when I was only six years old. I played many other sports as I grew up such as soccer, volleyball, tennis, basketball, track and field, and cross country, but nothing was quite as unique as golf which is why in eighth grade I decided to commit to solely being a golfer. Going into high-school, I decided I wanted to be part of a highly competitive team to improve my golf game which resulted in transferring to a new school. I went to try-outs very nervous knowing that I had the skill to be on varsity which consisted of ten players, but still not being sure of myself. After a few days that were not the best, I was losing hope until hole 9tb of my last day of tryouts where I made an eagle from 120 yards to be number 10 on the varsity team. After my new high school coach Amy Ruengmqteekhun saw this, she told me dad “If she can do that, I know she has the potential to be very good”.  This was so exciting, and it was at that point I knew I was going to push myself to be the best I could be. For the rest of my freshman year, I grinded harder than anyone on the team, so by the time postseason began and we were qualifying to play at the TAPPS 6A state championship I had climbed all the way to being the 4th player. I played at state and shot my personal record at the time an 85-81 to assist my team to victory using both my scores both days. Sophomore year this grinding continued allowing me to win my team's heart award and hardest working player. I won my first high school tournament in the fall with a 75 winning by 9 strokes on a day with thirty miles per hour wind. I again assisted my team to victory shooting an 81-78 to win state in back to back years. As well during my sophomore year, I was able to increase my swing speed and distances to start hitting my driver around 230 yards and swinging at about 88mph. Junior year my grind did not stop and my new coach Josh Rooks who took over Coach Amy’s spot after she left to coach A&M commerce told me I was "More committed to golf than even him". After a lot of struggle because of teammates' injury and lack of commitment I finally as number one on the team brought our team to victory in the fall with also winning individually second place with a 74. Our season, unfortunately, got cut short, but I still felt I had run my team well as the captain and was awarded MVP. Even though we did not get to play in state this year I still was awarded Academic All-State.

I will not lie my golf career has not been all rainbows and unicorns. I have struggled many days with working harder than everyone else, but not lowering my scores as easily as everyone else. Many days it has seemed as if it would be easier for me to quit than to keep trying, but golf has taught me I am no quitter and I can persevere through anything. In many of my out of school tournaments, I have struggled a lot especially 2019 Summer on the AJGA tour. I spent so many hours working, preparing, grinding, and not shooting the scores I had hoped. Many long car rides home from these tournaments were filled with sadness as I felt I had been robbed of shooting the scores I was capable of. This led me to the decision in the fall of 2019 to switch to a new personal coach Carrie Chambers who has changed my game drastically. My biggest improvement has been the increase of my swing speed to 95 mph with a driver going around 255 yards, however, my new perspective while playing has made golf more enjoyable. My mental game has always been the weakest part of my game, but now it has improved significantly. One of my proudest moments was when my new coach Carrie told me that "I was a great student that was very teachable". I am so proud of this because I had before tended to be hard-headed and resistant to change. It has made golf exciting again and I finally have a smile on my face when I am on the course.

Through all the ups and downs of my golf game, I have also managed to keep myself very well rounded. I put a lot of time and effort into my schoolwork because my education is equally as important since it shapes my future. I go to one of the most prestigious private schools in Texas, Ursuline Academy which has alumni such as Melinda Gates. I have managed to keep an average GPA of 3.8 with a steady increase since I began my learning at Ursuline Academy. At Ursuline, I have also been able to continue my 9 years of Mandarin Chinese where I have had kept an average of 97 in the class over the last two years. I also do many community service hours every year doing an average of about 160 hours a year. Moreover, I still maintain a social life where I am fortunate to many friends and can still spend time with my family and pets.

Although I am tired much of the time because of everything I am involved in I work extremely hard and will grind to get where I want, making it all worth it. I will not quit even when it becomes very difficult because it is just not in my character to be a quitter. Any of my coaches, teammates, parents, friends, teachers could tell you that and I think that shows who I really am.