Photo courtesy of Dylan Castro Senior Dylan Castro stands in front of the golf tee at the Almansor Golf Course on Nov. 19. He swings his golf club and sends the ball flying across the air.
Castro gets back into swing of golfing
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The car comes to a stop. Senior Dylan Castro steps onto the green lawn of the course with a golf club and ball in hand. He focuses all his attention on his club, running through the motion in his head. As he swings, the ball soars across the sky, and his worries fade away with the quiet breeze.
Castro grew up well-acquainted with sports. He started playing basketball when he was four, baseball at the age of eight, and now, golf. Given his long history of playing sports, Castro loves an opportunity to be active. As such, the pandemic, instead of deterring, actually resparked his love for his most recent endeavor—golf.
“A couple months back, my dad said, ‘Let’s go golfing again,’” Castro said. “He wanted to bring back old times, so he took me to go play in my first golf course ever. Now, golfing is a hobby of mine all over again.”
Castro cites his time playing baseball as pivotal to his current love for golf. With social distancing protocols in place, team-based sports are no longer viable options. As a result, he finds a way around them with golf while also finding solace in the sport.
“It wasn’t that bad of a transition from a faster, collaborative sport,” Castro said. “I didn’t really mind that change either because as long as it’s something I enjoy, it’s something I will be willing to do. I got into golf pretty quickly because, back then, I played baseball for six years, and I stopped once high school started. Swinging a golf club brings back old memories of me swinging a bat.”
That feeling is what assures his return to playing golf despite his time-consuming responsibilities of classes, extracurriculars, college, and his social life.
“Just watching the ball fly in the air is one of my favorite things,” Castro said. “It’s just the way the club feels to me when it connects to the ball. I also get to relax and take my time without the feeling of being rushed.”
Currently, Castro plays golf every other week due to the spike in COVID-19 cases in L.A. County. When it is safer to do so, he wants to go back and play with his father more frequently and expand his repertoire of sports.
