Wimberley junior Jaxon Donaldson is putting together one of the most impressive high school golf careers in recent Central Texas history.
Donaldson claimed his second Class 4A state title this week with a two-day score of 8 under par at Legends Golf Course in Kingsland.
“Everything was working well,” he said. “I hit the driver well and got off the tee well, and that put me in a position to make birdies and go low.”
Donaldson won state as a freshman and was runner-up a year ago, and he carded a 6-under 66 in the second round Tuesday to claim his win.
“It felt like everything was going your way and couldn’t go wrong,” he said. “It felt like I was in a dream, almost. You could say I was in a zone. Nothing was distracting me. I was patient and took it one shot at a time. It was definitely a different feeling and didn’t feel like a normal day, to say the least.”
An aggressive nature paid off in the second round for Donaldson, who hit a 240-yard second shot on the 11th hole that cleared a large pond and landed on the green.
“That shot could have defined the rest of the way the round went,” he said. “The fact it made the green was huge for my mental game going into the rest of the round.”
After making birdie on five of the last six holes, Donaldson had to stand by for other players to finish before he realized he had another title, but it was something that was certainly worth the wait.
“When I found out, it’s like, ‘Holy moly!'” he said. “I can’t really put into words how I felt. It was awesome. Some people may have expected a more excited reaction, but I didn’t really know what to do, to be honest with you.”
His 66 tied the second-round scoring record, and he now owns the low-score record for both rounds after carding a 65 in the first round in 2021.
“No one expected me to win it my freshman year, and then coming up short last year made me hungry to get another one,” Donaldson said. “I’m still a little bit in shock. To say I’ve won it twice in three years is pretty cool.”
Cedar Park’s Kim takes bronze in Class 5A
Cedar Park senior Jonathan Kim’s lone high school season turned out to be a wildly successful one.
Kim, who played American Junior Golf Association events before joining the Timberwolves this spring, shot 3 under par over two days to finish third in Class 5A at White Wing Golf Course in Georgetown.
“It’s my first year of high school golf, and I didn’t have too many expectations, so to come out with third, I was really happy,” said Kim, who will play college golf at Nevada.
Kim posted the best second-round score, 5 under, and that catapulted him up the leaderboard from ninth after the first round.
“I was just hitting a lot of really good irons,” he said. “I hit 17 greens, and on the back nine I made a lot of putts and was able to hit a really good score. … On the second day I could go more aggressive since it was my last high school tournament and I had nothing to lose. The mentality was a bit different.”
Cedar Park coach Cary Williams said he wasn’t surprised by Kim’s performance.
“I saw a lot in him and told people earlier in the season he could medal at state,” Williams said. “His medium- and long-iron game is unbelievable. It’s an amazing achievement to medal at state. He was on fire for sure the second day, and he’s just a great kid who works hard. His mental game is fantastic, and he doesn’t really get down.”
Kim said the decision to play the high school season was one he’s glad he made.
“It was different from what I’m used to, but playing with a team was really good and fun, and that’s what I’ll be doing in college,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Wimberley’s Donaldson wins Class 4A golf; Cedar Park’s Kim third in 5A