Oak Hill senior Jack Hayes had always planned to attend college after high school.
He hoped that his athletic ability on the soccer field might garner him enough attention for a scholarship offer.
Hayes ultimately got a scholarship offer, but it came in a sport that he never dreamed of when he entered high school.
Wednesday afternoon with family, coaches, friends and media in attendance, Hayes signed a National Letter of Intent to play golf at Fairmont State University.
“It’s amazing. My freshman and sophomore year I was more focused on soccer than I was on golf,” Hayes said. “After playing for so long I grew a passion for golf. I knew I had a bigger shot at playing golf (in college) than soccer.”
After qualifying for the state high school golf tournament last year and finishing just outside the top 25 as a junior, Hayes worked all summer to get better.
His worked paid off with a third-place finish in the 2021 state golf tournament as well as six straight low medalist honors to close the regular season.
Hayes never finished less than third in any match he competed as a high school senior.
“This is by far the best moment in my coaching career to have Jack go to Fairmont. That was his dream school and I am super pumped for him go there,” Oak Hill head golf coach Matt Sydnor said. “Fairmont is getting, number one, an all-state golfer and also an all-around great young man.”
Hayes is leaning towards physical therapy at Fairmont State, but is still undecided on a major at this time.
“The campus is amazing and the people there make it feel like a family. It is beautiful,” Hayes said. “My father and my brother also went there.”
