PORT TOWNSEND — Some kids have a football, basketball or soccer ball placed at their hands or feet at a young age.
Then there’s Port Townsend High School senior Jacob Madison, whose grandfather, Chuck Madison of Port Angeles, handed him a golf club at the tender age of 3 in a solid piece of unintentional foreshadowing.
Madison, who earned three consecutive trips to the Class 1A state golf tournament for the Redhawks in his first three high school seasons, has signed a letter of intent to continue his golf career at Olympic College in Bremerton.
“I’m really proud of that [the three state trips], and I was working really hard this year to make it four in a row and have a good result [at state],” Madison said of his high school career.
His senior season ended after one match, the lone high school sporting event of the spring sports season to be played before the coronavirus shuttered schools, sports and even golf courses for a time.
Madison earned medalist honors for lowest overall individual score with a round of 3-over-par 38 on his home course, Port Townsend Golf Club.
A staple on the annual Peninsula Daily News All-Peninsula Boys Golf Team each year, Madison put in the work necessary to grow his game, cutting nearly eight full strokes off his nine-hole average from his freshman season to his junior year (51.2 to 43.4).
Madison said the golf bug bit hard in high school, and it kept him at the course, working to improve his skills for hours at practice. A precise club fitting followed by some new equipment also aided his aim to keep playing the sport competitively.
“My short game really improved a lot and that helped lower my scores,” Madison said. “It was kind of both, I did spend a lot of time at the course and I did get a new [Scotty Cameron] putter and that made a big difference.”
Madison, a year-round player, has participated in Washington Junior Golf Association’s summer series events in recent years and a connection made on the WJGA circuit led to him signing to play for Olympic.
“Manny [Havili], the District 3 Tournament Director for WJGA, told him about [head coach] Bjorn [Bjorke] at Olympic,” Jacob’s mom, Dana Madison, said.
“I wanted to continue my golf game, and by going to Olympic, it’s close enough to still be able to commute,” Madison said of how he made his decision. “I get to play at Gold Mountain [and McCormick Woods], and I get to keep playing the game.”
Madison also has been heavily involved with the high school band and even used his golf connections to host a golf tournament that raised funds for a since-canceled spring break trip to Los Angeles.
“I played percussion, quads and piano and all the percussion instruments in band,” Madison said while admitting that he will use music to help his play.
“I do hum a lot of songs that can kind of get me focused out there,” Madison said.
He also was a member of the Kiwanis Club-offshoot Key Club and an honor roll student and National Honor Society member with a GPA around 3.7 out of 4.0.
He thanked his family for their assistance in getting him to this point.
“First off, my mom, she’s very supportive of me and what I do,” Madison said.
“My grandpa for handing me the club and letting me play. All my family members, they’ve all been very supportive.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-406-0674 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
