Wednesday afternoon was a monumental day in the life of Washington High School senior Garrett Wahl, as he signed his letter of intent to continue his golf career at Heidelberg University. Wahl was surrounded by numerous friends and family members to help celebrate this special occasion.

As a Blue Lion golfer, Wahl was a part of three straight Frontier Athletic Conference Championships from his freshman to junior year. He was named First-Team All-FAC all four years. Garrett finished top 10 at the District tournament both his freshman and sophomore year and top 15 his senior year. He was Academic All-Ohio his senior year.

Wahl spoke about how the opportunity at Heidelberg came about.

“So, I made a Next College Student Athlete (NCSA) profile during my freshman year. I uploaded videos of my swing, some of my tournament scores, and then all of these different college coaches can view that information. Heidelberg was the first college to reach out, and I had a zoom meeting with Coach Abrams, who is also the Dean of Students there. He is a really nice guy, but when I first spoke with him I told him that I wanted to keep my options open. I never really thought I would end up going there, but here we are and that’s where I’m going, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. Once I visited the campus, I really fell in love with it.

“I really wanted to stay somewhat close to home. Heidelberg is less than three hours from here and I don’t think that is too bad of a distance. I can still come home on a weekend if I wanted to.”

According to Wahl, he looked at Defiance College, Capital University, Otterbein University, and a few other schools as potential schools to continue his golf career.

He also looked at the University of Kentucky, Xavier University, Marshall University, the University of Dayton and Ohio State University as potential schools for strictly academics.

He plans to double-major in marketing and finance while enrolled at Heidelberg.

“Their business program is their main program there,” said Wahl. “Most of the students that go there are majoring in the business field. After college, I would love to be a financial analyst or financial director for a golf company. I think I want to stay in the golf world in some capacity. I’m waiting to see what the internships are like and try to make connections and then just see what happens from there.”

He discussed how he got started playing golf.

“I’ve been golfing for 14 years and it all started with a plastic golf set from Walmart when I was 4. I just kept gravitating towards them and always wanted to play with them. I still played flag football and tee-ball when I was little, but there was just something about golf that I fell in love with. Golf is a love and hate relationship sport and I’m still kind of shocked that I stuck with it and kept playing, but I just love it.”

He mentioned his favorite golf memory from high school.

”It was definitely being with the team and bonding with them. Obviously, it is great to play well and have good scores, but it’s really been about building relationships with my teammates and other players for me. I’ve met so many new friends over my golf career that I still keep in touch with to this day. I still get together and play with some of them regularly. That has been my favorite thing about golf in general, meeting new friends and forming relationships, and it has led to a lot of great experiences for me.”

Garrett said that his favorite course to play as a Blue Lion was Crown Hill Golf Club in Williamsport.

“That’s where the District tournament is, and it is not an easy course. It’s especially tougher around the time of districts because of the weather. It is usually colder and if it is windy, the course can really hurt you. I have learned a lot about golf from playing there. That course really taught me that if I hit a bad shot, it’s just one bad shot and that I just need to keep going and I can make up for it later on another hole.”

He mentioned that his favorite course he has ever played was TPC River’s Bend near Cincinnati.

“I will probably never be able to play there again. There is a 10-to-15 year waiting list for a membership, and you obviously need some money to play out there. That course was such a cool experience. It was really challenging with a lot of water, but it was just such a nice course.”

According to Wahl, his favorite subject in school is history.

“It comes easy to me and is very interesting in my opinion. I love learning about what has happened in the past, specifically the World War II era. I’ve had family members serve in the Battle of the Bulge and Normandy, and I have read their letters and I never met them, but I learned a lot from them from the letters. I have always just been interested in learning more about my ancestors and just learning about the past in general.”

He said that his favorite teacher is David Penwell, also known as “Pap” to most students at Washington High School.

“Pap has taught me so much about business and how to manage people and build relationships. He taught me about customer service, how to manage finances and have a budget. What I like the most about him, though, is that he really cares about his students. He always wants to make sure that everyone is learning something, and he checks up on all of his students daily to see how we are doing. He is just a great teacher.”

Wahl finished by sharing some words of gratitude. He started by thanking his father.

”He has really pushed me towards becoming a good golfer, a good person and good sportsman. He has helped me with not letting my frustrations get ahead of me. He has definitely shown me how to work hard and have good sportsmanship. He has been there since day one.”

He followed by thanking his grandfather, Chuck Winkle.

“My grandpa has had a pretty big impact on my life. He showed up to every single match that I had and has always been one of my biggest supporters over the years.”

He expressed thanks for his mother, next.

“She would really keep me calm during some of those tournaments that were a little rough. She used to wake up really early in the morning and take me to Greenfield for golf lessons with Sharon Sims. She would be right there with me and would wait on me to finish up. She may tell you that she doesn’t know a thing about golf and that might be true, but she has always been a huge supporter and has always been there for me.”

Finally, Garrett gave thanks to Shannon Bartruff, Washington High School boys golf coach.

“Coach B has been a pretty big mentor in my life over the last few years. My junior year was the roughest year for me with scores, and I just didn’t perform very well. Coach B was there for me through it and was always lifting me up, telling me not to get frustrated about it. He really worked with me a lot and helped me with staying calm and not thinking a lot about my swing during matches. I can tell you he really cares about his golfers.”

Bartruff spoke about Wahl and the impact he made in the Blue Lion golf program.

”Garrett is the consummate Blue Lion student-athlete. He’s fourth in his class, was a Buckeye Boys State delegate, Superintendent’s Advisory Council member, member of the FCA Ohio Youth Lead Prevention Network, Student Council member, Senior Caucus President and Hope Squad member. Garrett actually started working with us in the eighth grade. He loves golf and has worked very hard on his craft.

“What I appreciate about Garrett as much as anything is who he is. He has a big heart, he’s a great friend, he was a leader on our team for four years and he’s a hard worker. He had a phenomenal career for Blue Lion Golf and I can’t wait to see his successes at Heidelberg. Whatever Garrett decides to put his mind to, he’s going to be successful. I know his grandparents and parents are very proud of all he’s accomplished and who he has become as a young man. His grandfather, Mr. Chuck Winkle, made every golf match for all four years of his career as a Blue Lion. Blue Lion Golf wishes Garrett the very best of luck.”