The first match of the season was on July 30, 2021, for Senior golfer Jack Schneider. The excitement filled his body, as this was the moment he had been patiently waiting for.

Schneider stated how it felt to be back playing golf.

“The excitement flowed through my veins, butterflies in my stomach, and just overall happy to be back on the course.”

He stepped onto the tee box at Pendleton Hills Country Club and ripped the first drive down the center of the fairway.

As Schneider made his way to the clubhouse after his great round at Pendleton Hills golf course, he felt very proud of himself as he finished his first round of 18 for the first time since his big setback in the previous spring.

Last April, Schneider was playing for the Bluebirds’ varsity baseball team, when he noticed that something felt off.

“It felt like my tricep was shrinking inside of my arm.”

Whenever he would throw the baseball, he was in a little bit of pain. But he decided to try and push through the pain and hope that things would get better after a couple of days of rest. Schneider took some days off from throwing the ball, but as time went on his arm started to blow up like a balloon.

Since his arm started to get quite large, he decided that he had it checked out by an arm specialist. When he went to the doctor, they told him that they thought it was a minor injury, but they still wanted to have a scan done to make sure that nothing was seriously wrong. 

“I was in shock, and could not believe what the doctor had told me.” 

After a couple of anxious days of waiting to get the results back from his scan, he had finally received the results. As he listened to the doctor tell him his results he was devastated. The doctor told him that there was a blood clot in his right shoulder, from a muscle and a rib pinching the blood vessel.

Schneider said, “There was a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders once I heard the news.”

During the appointment, the doctor told him that he would have to have surgery and he would be put out of commission for a couple of months. Schneider was torn to pieces as he loves to play golf in the summer, and he would have to wait several months to be able to return to golf.

Thankfully on May 18, 2021, Schneider’s surgery was a success and the blood clot had been successfully removed from his right shoulder. 

Now he would have to start the long and vigorous recovery process, in order to be back for his senior season on the golf team. If he wanted to do this, Schneider would have to be cleared by the doctor before July 30, which left him with two and a half months to get cleared. So, he began to work extremely hard to get through the recovery process and was cleared on July 14.

“My biggest challenge was that I had so little time to prepare for the golf season.”

This had only left him with two weeks to start preparing for the golf season, which would make for a very difficult return. Golf is such a hard sport to play, so Jack had to practice and play every day in the blistering, muggy, and hot July sun, just to be able to make the first match on July 30. After working his tail off for two dreadful weeks, Jack was able to play in the first match of the year.

The first match was at Pendleton Hills golf course, and he played well that day, as he shot a 76. This was a huge accomplishment for not being able to play golf for ten months. With this remarkable return, he was finally back as the senior leader on the golf team.

Highlands High School Golf Coach Bert Richey discussed Schneider’s leadership skills.

“He never gets too high or too low, he shows the younger kids how to handle their emotions. He also shows the younger kids how to be respectful on the golf course.” 

This was a huge return for Bluebirds because they had recently just lost two senior Division I golfers. They were desperate for a good senior leader to lead the underclassmen, and because of Schneider’s remarkable return, they had received what they had needed.

Schneider commented on how the season has been for him so far.

“The season has been okay. I have been a cube and am on a cold streak.”  

His have ranged from the high 70’s to the low 80’s. Schneider stated that this is because he is currently in the middle of a swing change, but seems very optimistic for the rest of the golf season and thinks that he is close to figuring it out. Hopefully, he can figure it out and help lead the birds to a Regional Championship.

“I plan on making a return to the baseball team and hopefully win another district championship.”

After the golf season comes to an end, Schneider plans on starting to train for the upcoming baseball season and hopes to make a big return to possibly help the baseball team to another district championship.