COLLEGIATE GOLFER SPOTLIGHT - DJ GODOY

NTPGA • April 20, 2018

COLLEGIATE GOLFER SPOTLIGHT - DJ GODOY

As many of you know, our motto here at the NTPGA Junior Tour is #WHOSNEXT ®. The NTPGA Junior Tour is well represented by its alumni on the PGA, Web.com and LPGA Tours. Currently, there are 22 former Junior Tour members competing professionally including Jordan Spieth, Cody Gribble, Ryan Palmer, Angela Stanford, Brittany Lang and many more.


But, our #WHOSNEXT® motto doesn’t just apply to future professional golfers. It applies to our former members currently showcasing their talents at the collegiate level all across the country.


In this bi-monthly blog series, we will be featuring former Junior Tour members who are currently playing golf. Every other week we’ll check out what they had to say about their time playing on the NTPGA Junior Tour, and gain some insight into what it’s like to play college golf.


We know it is the goal of many of our current members to move on to play golf in college. Are you the next college golfer? #WHOSNEXT®


D.J. Godoy - NTPGA Junior Tour Member 2007 - 2014

Senior at the University of Texas at Tyler

Criminal Justice Major

Graduating in December of 2018


Q: What are your post graduation plans?


  A: I swore into the United States Marine Corps in December and am waiting to be shipped out to Quantico, Virginia for Officer Candidate School. I plan on serving my four-year contract and seeing if I can further my career in the Marines.


Q: How old were you when you became an NTPGA Junior Tour Member?


A: I first started playing on the NTPGA Junior Tour when I was 11 years old. I played in just about every tournament they had to offer in the East Texas area.

 

Q: How did being a part of the NTPGA Junior Tour help or impact your golf game?


A: The NTPGA Junior Tour impacted my game by teaching me not only how to win, but also how to fail. It allowed me to experience emotions that could only be felt through competition.


Q: What was the biggest thing you learned while you were a part of the NTPGA Junior Tour?


  A: The biggest thing that I learned playing on the NTPGA Junior Tour is the art of competition. Back in my day we had a vast majority of great golfers from around the state.


Q: What is one piece of advice you would give to current NTPGA Junior Tour members?


  A: Keep golf fun and competitive and do not let the game define who you are. You’re going to have some great days, but along with those great days will be bad ones. Learn to take the good with the bad, and do not let your personal life be affected by your play on the golf course.


Q: How did the NTPGA Junior Tour help prepare you for playing golf in college?


  A: The NTPGA Junior Tour helped prepare me for college golf by allowing me to play against the individuals who I would be teeing it up with in college. The majority of the guys that I played against on the Junior Tour ended playing collegiate golf, and we met yet again on a different stage. So remember the names and the faces you play with because I guarantee you will see them again later in life, either as competitors or teammates.


Q: Please describe what your personal golf recruiting process looked like.


  A: I was recruited by some Division I schools in Texas such as the University of North Texas, and the University of Houston. The place where I really wanted to play college golf was the University of New Mexico. I took a visit out there and fell in love with the campus, but from a cost perspective there was going to be a bit of an issue. I eventually settled on playing for a Division II school, Arkansas Tech University.


Q: How does playing in college differ from the NTPGA Junior Tour?


  A: Playing in college is different from playing on the NTPGA Junior Tour in the fact that you are playing for both yourself and your team. You must be a little more decisive on shot selection because you are not only playing for an individual title, but also for a team title. You could have a shot or putt on the last hole that would not make a difference in your individual placement in a tournament, but that shot could carry the fate of your team advancing in postseason play.The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

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