Arthur (A.J.) Durzy '22 Recruiting Profile

My grandfather introduced me to golf when I was six years old. I immediately fell in love with the sport and would take any opportunity to hit balls or play. Golf became my passion and my focus. I knew I wanted to play competitively and constantly improve. What I would bring to any college golf program is a long history of grit and determination; I’m very coachable, willing to change things to find an edge, and no one will out work or out practice me.  

I consider myself a  student of the game, and I’m always looking to find ways to get better, which means spending a lot of time on the range before and after every round I play. I attribute this to having a growth mindset in all aspects of life. Nothing has ever come easy for me, including academics. I struggled with ADHD early in my school career, and pride myself on how hard I have worked to turn it to my advantage. My grades improved every year, and I wanted to challenge myself by going to a very competitive college prep private high school, Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, California. I was able to adjust to the fast pace and currently carry a 3.7 GPA in my second semester of junior year. Mitty is also highly competitive in golf, having won the California state championship the year before I arrived. That was the environment I wanted to play in. My freshman year, I played mainly on JV and in twelve tournaments I won two overall medalist honors, five team medalist honors, and finished top 2 on my team in 10 of 12 events. I finished the season with the lowest scoring average on that team, and I got called up to varsity at the end of the season. Even though my sophomore season was wiped out by COVID,  I kept sharp by practicing and playing in local tournaments when they started up again. As junior year season starts, I am focused on helping our team go to Sectional and Regional playoffs, and maybe bring another title home. 

My goal is to play college golf while also having a great overall college experience, academically and socially. The best college experience for me would be an environment where I can work hard, have some fun, and just get better and grow as a person, teammate, and golfer. I want to strive to be the best possible golfer and person. I do hope to play well enough to start to play professionally after college, but even if I don’t end up doing that, I want to maintain my passion for the game and pass it along to my future family.