Jared Goldstein Hitting 600 practice golf balls each day for seven days had Freehold Township High School junior Jared Goldstein more than ready to have what he called “a great season.”
“I finally got my game together,” he said. “It was at a peak this year. I played with composure.”
Certainly, hitting 4,000-plus shots in practice went a long way toward making Goldstein the Freehold Regional High School District champion in 2012 and one of the Shore Conference’s best golfers.
In addition to winning the FRHSD title by one stroke, Goldstein was the FRHSD’s top finisher at the Monmouth County and Shore Conference tournaments, where he placed third in both events.
Goldstein was having a problem with his backswing prior to the start of the 2012 high school season. He was getting too far inside with his swing and it was producing a hook.
Over spring break he went to Orlando, Fla., to work with his coach, Bill Madonna, a PGA Master Teaching Professional who runs the Bill Madonna GolfAcademy at the Orlando World Center Marriott. Madonna changed Goldstein’s backswing and during the week Goldstein spent in Florida he hit enough golf shots to make his new swing rote .
When the high school season began in April, Goldstein was ready to leap out of the pack and take his place among the contenders at championship events.
Winning the 2012 FRHSD title was an especially gratifying achievement for Goldstein, not only because he defeated a quality field, but because it made up for 2011 when he lost in a playoff. This season, Goldstein carded a 72 at Gambler Ridge in Cream Ridge to win the title by one stroke. He shot a 75 at Gambler Ridge in the 2011 FRHSD tournament.
Goldstein started playing golf when he was 8, but he did not know if he was cut out for the sport.
“I didn’t have enough patience at first,” he said. “At 11, I began to take it seriously after I got a couple of lessons at Bella Vista in Marlboro.”
During a family trip to Florida, he met Madonna and his game began to take off. He also developed an appreciation of the sport.
“What I love about it is the independence of it,” Goldstein said. “It all relies on me. Ultimately, you are responsible for the shot.”
The steady play of Goldstein and his teammate Jason Oesterle helped Freehold Township win the Shore Conference A North Division public school title (which the Patriots shared with Howell), capture the Freehold Regional High School District team championship (snapping Howell’s four-year win streak), finish second to Christian Brothers Academy at the county and conference tournaments, and qualify for the NJSIAA state sectional tournament for the first time in years.
“We definitely made a statement this season,” Goldstein said. “We had a great season.”
Goldstein will spend the summer caddying at Trump National in Colts Neck. He is keeping his options open when it comes to college, but said he would like to play somewhere in Florida or in another warm climate. Even though the warm winter allowed him to get out and play more this year, like all cold-weather golfers, he yearns to play the game year-round.