Senior Spotlight: Sam Johnson / Hauser’s Johnson had big goals for this season before shutdown

Hauser's Sam Johnson tees off on the second hole during a boys golf match against Columbus North Wednesday April 24, 2019 at Harrison Lake Country Club in Columbus. James Pence | The Republic

Editor’s Note: With the coronavirus outbreak shutting down spring sports, The Republic is featuring senior athletes from Columbus East, Columbus North and Hauser whose final seasons were affected by the decision over the course of the spring.

Sam Johnson and the rest of the Hauser boys golf team had high expectations going into the 2020 season. One of their biggest goals this season was to win the Mid-Hoosier Conference.

After a lot of practice in the offseason, Johnson was confident that this year might be the year the Jets finally got over the hump after coming up short the past few years.

Unfortunately for Johnson and the rest of the Jets, they won’t have that opportunity to try to claim the championship they had desired all year when the spring sports season was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“Throughout my three years on the golf team, I had yet to make all-conference, and my team has yet to win conference,” Johnson said. “I was sort of hoping to break that streak this last year and either myself or my team to win conference.”

Johnson’s golf game had come a long way since he picked up the sport his freshman year. He was talked into trying out for the golf team after a couple of his friends that were previously on the team told him it would be a fun way to spend his spring.

The Jet was glad he listened to his friends.

“I gave it a try, and I essentially found that I love playing it,” Johnson said. “I had a whole lot of fun, and even after my friends graduated, I continued on with the sport in the spring.”

Johnson was a multi-sport athlete for the Jets, playing soccer and basketball his first three years of high school. In his athletic career, Johnson picked up three varsity letters in soccer, basketball and golf. He was expected to receive his fourth letter in golf this spring.

“Sam was a kid that came to the very first practice four years ago and never played a lot of golf,” Hauser golf coach Mike Compton said. “We had him that very first night his freshman year, and we were expecting this (year) to be Sam’s blowout year.”

As great as Johnson’s athletic career was, it was the academic side that made him the typical mold of a student-athlete. He graduated as the valedictorian in his class and plans to attend Indiana University next year in the Kelley School of Business to major in fiance.

“He’s a very scholastic kid. He’s just the epitome of a student-athlete,” Compton said. “He’s got big goals, and I think he’s that kid that can pull them off.”

Johnson said that sports gave him a lot of new life lessons, and he was proud of his career as a Jet.

“I think that sports teaches you a lot that you just can’t get out of classroom time alone,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely a life experience that I feel that everyone needs to have to be able to go out into the world and work in teams and learn things like patience and determination. It’s something you only get out of organized sports, so I’m extremely thankful that I’ve had the opportunity and that I hope that many other people in the future make that choice.”

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Q: Can you describe how you felt when you heard that your season was canceled?

"My first thought was, of course, disappointment because I wouldn’t have those opportunities to shake off the last three years of disappointing finishes in conference. But then at the same time, I was also met with a sort of satisfaction that through these three years, I’ve gotten really good at and got to enjoy a sport that I can play forever."

Q: What is your best memory with the program?

"One of my best friends, Justin Compton, was a really good golfer at Hauser a couple years ago, and he was mostly the reason why I got into golf. He was a lot better than me during my first two years. There was this one match where he played awful at Shadowood in Seymour. He shot a 49, I remember, and I shot a 43. That’s the one time I could say I beat Justin Compton, which I haven’t done since then or prior to."

Q: What will you miss most about your school and team?

"I really enjoy the two, two-and-a-half hours out on the golf course mostly by myself to sort of clear my head and sort of relax for a little bit."

Q: What lesson(s) did you learn from your time with the program?

"I would say that a big portion of that of what I learned is patience. Coming into a sport as a complete rookie and never playing a round of golf before my freshman year, I definitely had to come to the terms that I wasn’t going to be great immediately. I had to work for it and practice and develop, and that takes time. I think in those first couple years of getting the hang of golf, I learned a lot of patience."

Q: What are your plans for college or the future?

"I’m going to IU into the Kelley School of Business, and right now, I’m concentrating in fiance. I’m sure I’ll pick up a minor or double major along the way."

Q: What is your final message to the team?

"To my coaches, I just want to say thank you to the only golf coaches that I’ve ever known, but I couldn’t see it happening an other way. I’ve really enjoyed spending my time with them and learned a lot from them. To all the future Hauser golfers, I would say, always wear sunscreen because it is going to get you one day."

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