Kaden Mellott '25 Recruiting Profile

My name is Kaden Mellott and I am a junior at Monte Vista High School in Colorado. Growing up in a small town and being the middle child of 3 boys has brought me a lot of opportunities for competition. We grew up living next to the local golf course where I have played since I was little and now in my teenage years I also work there.  My family has always been surrounded by sports with my dad and grandpa being a coaches and with my dad being the local schools' athletic trainer. My brothers and I grew up looking at most everything as a competition and continuously worked to beat each other in whatever the task was. My older brother, being three years older than me, had a little bit of a advantage but I think that is the reason I adopted such a hard working mindset. I was always trying to follow in his footsteps and then trying to take it a step further to where I would be better than him. 

Throughout my childhood four sports were the center of focus; golf, baseball, basketball, and football. With football, basketball, and baseball all being team sports, it taught me to work with others to accomplish a common goal. Golf, on the other hand, taught me to grow by myself from the mistakes encountered along the way because no one else could step in to play for me. By the time I got to High School I had continued to grow and participate in all four sports. I was lucky enough to play with my older brother in all 4 sports my freshman year. That year I would say I learned the most in being a leader and contributing to a team by working hard and setting a path for others to follow. After my brother graduated I was then named team captain for both golf and baseball. Being only a sophomore a lot was expected from me in those 2 captain positions but it helped drive me to influence the team and lead them both to success in those seasons. Now as a junior I have been named captain of 3 sports teams which include basketball, baseball and golf. 

Having the golf course only a few minutes away from where I lived brought a early love to my life. I was introduced to golf even before I could walk and once I started walking the swing began to develop. I spent countless hours on the golf course trying to beat my older brother and my little brother trying to beat me. With this being said I have never really had a true golf coach/swing coach. I was taught by my parents and learned from my own trial and error. The hard times I encountered during the game forced me to figure it out on my own and helped me build my own self motivating attitude because I had to figure out my own problems to beat my brothers and others. Now in the high school years of golf I have been introduced to the team aspect of the sport. Being the captain starting my sophomore year has motivated me to bring the others around me to a high level of success. Sophomore year our team placed 11th at state with three state qualifiers. This year in my Junior year we qualified 4 boys for state and ended up placing 6th as a team. Overall the dedication on the team continues to grow under my leadership and our team has become driven to strive for increasing success each year.

Golf is not the only thing that I plan to continue on with in my future. I am a 4.0+ GPA student with the goal of being valedictorian my Senior year. I plan to continue this into college and earn at least a 3.5+ GPA on my way to earning a degree. In the end, I am seeking an institution where I can meet my academic goals while pursuing an opportunity to meet my golf goals. With the help of a college golf coach and team I hope to take the next step in my golf career.