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FEATURED ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Jaxon Parmley, Greencastle
Jaxon Parmley is a senior at Greencastle and participates in golf.
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Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them?
Jaxon Parmley: “Sports have definitely taught me a lot. I play golf pretty much all day every day when the weather allows during the season. It’s taught me how to manage my time, especially during the season. We don’t just practice until the coach says we are finished, a lot of us stay after and keep playing because we like to play. I really enjoy it and it’s a lot of fun.”
BG: What do you like best about golf?
JP: “It’s always different. It’s not the same every day. You might play the same course over and over, but you are always in a different spot when you hit the ball. It’s always changing, and I like that about it. Wind and weather are a huge deal when you’re playing, and I enjoy that.”
BG: What is the toughest part of golf?
JP: “The mental side, and keeping yourself calm. It’s very frustrating at times, and you just have to realize that some things are out of your control. It’s definitely the part I struggle with the most. As a freshman, I struggled a lot more than I do now. I have gotten better at learning what I can control.”
BG: With Jake Bennett having graduated (and playing at Marian University), you’re the team veteran (and only senior). What is that going to be like?
JP: “It’s different. We’re definitely going to struggle at the beginning of the year, with some of the younger kids who haven’t played in as many tournaments. I think we’ll still be all right.”
BG: What is it like having a little brother [Benny, a sophomore] on the team?
JP: “I told coach that we were going to have a fistfight before the end of the season, but it never did. We got along. Coach tried not to pair us together too much to eliminate that. We are very different, and we do disagree on things.”
BG: It’s kind of cold to play golf this time of year. Do you make any southern trips where you can get to play?
JP: “Over fall break, I went to a golf resort at Destin (Fla.) for four or five days and I was able to play there. It was a lot of fun, and it wasn’t nearly as cold.”
BG: You have a net in McAnally Center where you can practice hitting the ball. Does that help much?
JP: “It helps with the feel, but it’s a lot better to see the ball actually fly.”
BG: You are one of four finalists for the Lilly Community Endowment Scholarship. How hard has it been to qualify for that, especially with how much time you spend on golf over the last three months of the school year?
JP: “It’s definitely a big accomplishment to make it to the final four for that scholarship. I’m pretty pleased with that. Golf makes it difficult; that’s another 2-3 hours that I can’t put toward my studies. Some nights I have to stay up very, very late.”
BG: What is your class rank?
JP: “Right now, I’m second in weighted grades and I’m fourth in unweighted. They do the weighting at the end of the year. I’d like to hang onto that spot.”
BG: What else do you do at school besides things involving sports?
JP: “I participate in student council and National Honor Society. I like to do as much as I can; I like to keep my schedule busy. I try to sprinkle in some other things besides golf.”
BG: Did you ever play any other sports?
JP: “I played basketball in middle school, but that was it.”
BG: What’s the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you in sports?
JP: “Last year, I forgot my putter for a match. I took it out and was practicing with it, and left it in the back seat of my car. When I grabbed my clubs I didn’t even check; when I got to the course I had to borrow somebody else’s putter. I didn’t play very well that day, so I blamed it on that. There were more reasons than that though.”
BG: What do you like to do outside of school and sports?
JP: “I like to listen to music and play video games, when my schedule allows. I like to play ‘open world’ games. I’m not much of a big first-person shooter guy. I listen to indie rock right now. I like ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Breaking Bad’. I have finished both of those. I like to watch movies, but don’t have a specific genre. I’ll watch anything. Over the summer I show pigs in 4-H.”
BG: What is your biggest fear?
JP: “Heights. Not necessarily being up high, but being on a ledge where you look over at a big drop-off over a rail, like in hotel room balconies. Rollercoasters are OK because I’m strapped in.”
BG: What is something you have never done before that you would like to do someday?
JP: “Skydiving. I wouldn’t want to do it by myself. They might have to push me out of the plane the first time, but it’s something I’d like to say I did.”
BG: What are your favorite and least favorite foods?
JP: “My favorite food is fettucini alfredo. I don’t like brussel sprouts. I don’t like cheese by itself, but I like it on things.”
BG: If your house was on fire, and all living things were already out, what is one thing you would go back and get?
JP: “Definitely my electronic devices. I couldn’t live without my phone, and I’d try to get my video game too.”
BG: What are your plans for after high school, and what career are you headed toward?
JP: “I want to go to Purdue and study actuarial science. That’s the people who determine rates for insurance companies, based upon statistics, and sometimes develop new products. They are numbers guys.”
BG: Which particular classes and teachers have helped you the most in high school?
JP: “Mr. [Bradley] Key’s AP U.S. History class taught me a lot last year. It was really tough, and it made me a better reader. I read stuff differently now. Mr. [Daniel] Hankee and Mr. [Logan] Kuhne in math have also been very helpful. I am taking calculus II at DePauw now, and if I didn’t have a strong background from them I would be lost.”
BG: Do you think high school has gone fast, and are you going to miss it?
JP: “It’s gone by really fast. It doesn’t seem like that long ago I was a freshman and I didn’t know what was going on, and now I’m one of the oldest people in the school. It still hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m a senior. I’ve had a lot of fun, especially on the golf team. We’ve been really successful. I love our team and our coach [Steve Paquin]. It’s great that when we’re all ready for the school year to end that I still have golf to look forward to.”
BG: Will you continue to play golf while in college?
JP: “Definitely not for the school team, but Purdue has two really good courses up there and students get a discounted rate. My favorite thing about golf is that I can play it forever. In other sports, the physicality gets to you.”
BG: What goals do you have in golf for next spring?
JP: “We have won the sectional and the county all three of my years, and we won the conference the last two years. We’d like to keep those streaks going. I would like to average in the 70s. I think I was at 80 last year, but 70 sounds better.”