Jack Manfre '24 Recruiting Profile

My name is Jack Manfre and I am a Junior at Monroe Township High School in New Jersey. Since my youth, I’ve always been around sports, which has helped shape the person I am today. From the age of seven through thirteen, I played on a travel baseball team and completed that journey with the Cooperstown experience. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and I traded in my baseball bat for golf clubs. I found solace on the greens where my dad had taken me from time to time through the years. What was once a hobby had become my passion. I enjoy the strategizing, the tranquility, and the process of always adjusting to improve. I found myself spending more time watching instructional YouTube videos than gamer streams.

            With this new passion came a desire to play all the time. When I am not at the range or on the course, I chip and putt around the house or in my backyard. My parents realized I was serious about the sport and signed me up as a member of the NJPGA for Juniors which gave me access to tournaments. I may have joined the tournament circuit a little later than others, but I am ready and focused to push myself this season. I still play recreational sports like basketball to stay connected with friends and help my physical self be as well rounded of an athlete as I can. Some of my fellow travel baseball teammates and I along with our dads play in a recreational softball league together.

           Outside of sports, I spend time with my family and not just my immediate family which includes both my parents and two younger sisters, but my extended family on both sides which is filled with lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, and both sets of grandparents too. We have game nights, movie nights, BBQ’s, birthday celebrations, holiday gatherings, and lots of eating. I am also active in my church and have done some volunteer work in my parish as well as with my mom through her job. In my spare time, I enjoy the teenage experience and play video games. At first, playing was a way to stay connected to friends and family when we were isolated during the early months of the pandemic. Now, it has become an easy way to stay connected when our schedules don’t match up.

            I am an avid golfer looking to take his game to the next level. Other than a weeklong intro to golf camp about 7 years ago, I haven’t had any formal training yet. I’m a work in progress and a sponge to learn more about perfecting my game. I thrive being a member of a team and also find fulfillment competing as an individual too. This is the appeal of golf as a sport to me.