Extra Effort: Rosewood's Aaron Ingram feels at home on the green
Rosewood High School golf coach Ricky Smith has known senior Aaron Ingram for quite some time.
"Aaron is my nephew, so I've known him since he was born," Smith laughed.
As a coach... he loves what Ingram brings.
"Works harder than anyone I've ever coached to improve," Smith said.
That's how he became one of the best golfers in 1A, just like he handles life.
"Day after day, golf shot after golf shot, you know what to do, just go do it," Ingram said with a smile on his face.
He's improved at golf and he's grown in confidence as well. You can tell just from the way he handles being in front of a camera.
"From freshman year to now, I would have never been able to do this without shaking and doing terrible, he said.
Ingram credits his work with the National Future Farmers of America Organization His teacher.. Breanna Hinkle has pushed him into leadership.
"Can't say no to Miss Hinkle, you get up there, and if she tells you to do something, you usually do it," Ingram laughed.
"He was super shy as a freshman and a lot quieter, he still has a tendency to sometimes be a little shy at first until he knows someone," Hinkle said.
He's applied what he's learned as an FFA officer to Southern Wayne Golf Course with work and with projects.
"So we cut greens, cut the fairways, everything you see grass wise, we cut it," Ingram said.
"So he's able to also take what he's learned in the classroom, like let's say about turf grass and plants and horticulture, and apply that to him working in the golf course," Hinkle said.
But there are challenges. As a freshman, Ingram was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. As he's learned to live with the condition, he turns to golf, taking it one shot at a time.
"It's almost like a coping thing too, golf, for me, because yeah it will make you mad sometimes, but when you're playing good, it'll make you really happy" Ingram said with a smile.
And that's why Aaron Ingram is this week's winner of the Tom Suiter Extra Effort Award.
