This story was originally published in the second edition of The Lion’s Tale (November 6, 2020).

Joshua Stewart steps up to the first hole on the green. He places his golf ball on the tee and gets ready for the first swing. ‘Stay calm,’ he thinks to himself. ‘I’m the one in control’.

Last year, Stewart faced an injury that affected his season.

“Last year was a bit of a challenge because during the high school season I broke my wrist and was recovering from that,” Stewart said. “So this year I was able to play more and practice as much as I wanted to in order to get better. Last year was all about recovery.”

Stewart is a senior here at Oviedo High School. He has been on the school’s golf team for all four years. Stewart acknowledged how he started golfing at just eight years old when his grandparents started taking him to lessons.

He had originally hoped to accomplish first in states but ended up tying fifth overall, scoring a 72 and 73 each day.

“Josh has seven birdies and eight bogies over the two day tournament en route to a one over par 145,” said John Howell, social studies teacher and boys’ golf coach. “He was in the state finals three out of his four years in high school.”

Stewart will be attending Florida State University under a golf scholarship. His main goal is to make it to the Professional Golf Association (PGA). He wants to further continue his golfing career post college.

“Josh is the type of kid we all want our athletes to be. He worked hard at his game and took little to no time off,” Howell said. “He provided the kind of golf leadership and knowledge some of the less experienced players don’t have.”