Hole-in-One: Laurel Springs Senior Ethan Gao is Teeing Off for Stanford University Next Fall

Ethan Gao is a Laurel Springs School senior, three-time Rolex Junior All-American, and Korean barbecue lover from Alpharetta, Georgia. From academics to the golf course, Ethan competes in math competitions and golf tournaments, teeing him up for success in his academic and golf career.

Ethan Gao embarks on his golf journey

Originally from Illinois, Ethan began playing golf at the age of eight. With the midwestern cold weather, he was faced with the challenge of practicing indoors, but he didn’t let that stop him.

His first win was a local tournament (only the second he ever played in)  when he was eight and a half. The win ignited his passion for the sport. Previously testing out the waters in basketball, baseball, and football, he came to the realization that golf was his.

His first golf coach Jeff Ghim, father of Doug Ghim, played an instrumental part in his success. Doug played twice in the Masters Tournament, and with being in close proximity to the best players and learning from Doug’s father, Ethan’s passion for the sport grew stronger.

Thus, he moved to Georgia in middle school to further pursue his golf career.

The mid-year switch to Laurel Springs School

Upon his second semester of junior year, Ethan made the mid-year switch to Laurel Springs. He previously attended a private school in Atlanta, noting his commute was fairly long.

As he finds the balance between golf and school, he expresses his appreciation and gratitude for the flexible structure at Laurel Springs, being able to work on his own time (and not having to sit in traffic for 40-50 minutes a day).

Ethan has high ambitions and a busy schedule, so he enjoys the ease of consulting with his teachers at Laurel Springs about his academic performance, saying,  “My teachers are really nice to me, which is the biggest thing to me. When I came here, all the teachers were trying to help me and gave me a lot of feedback on my assignments.”

Ethan’s logical approach to golf

Student-athletes often approach their sport with a rigorous practice regimen. While this is true for Ethan, he takes his sport off the course by asking fundamental questions about the game and visualizing the course and the golf club mentally.

Notably, Ethan’s academic career has set him up for success. Not only is he a 2022 National Merit Semifinalist, and 2022 Rolex Scholastic All-American Honoree, but he’s also competed in math competitions nationally throughout his academic career. He qualified for the USA Junior Mathematical Olympiad, five times American Invitational Mathematics Examination, and four times Distinguished AMC10 Honor Roll. He recalls winning the Georgia State MATHCOUNTS Championship in middle school, and notes that math aids his athletic performance, along with training in the gym to make the golf ball go farther.

“I think math really helped me with a game of golf,” Ethan recounts, “Golf is a really hard sport. With my knowledge of math and by using logic, I can compartmentalize my thoughts and organize everything about my golf game.”

Playing in the Junior Presidents Cup

In late September Ethan joined the 2022 United States team for the Junior Presidents Cup, a two-day event team-match golf competition hosted by the Presidents Cup and American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).

He gathered alongside 12 of the top nation’s junior golf players in Charlotte, North Carolina to compete against another 12 talented international junior golfers.

Arriving in Charlotte five days earlier, his schedule was packed with training and spending quality bonding time with teammates. Without the flexibility of his schooling, he notes this experience would be a lot more difficult:

“Laurel Springs allowed me to miss classes and do school work when I was there, whereas a lot of my teammates had to miss school and makeup work when they got back.”

On their first day of the competition, the team participated in 36-hole matches. Ethan praises his teammate’s performance, Henry Guan (who is only fourteen years old) for his great success at such a young age.

Despite Ethan losing his singles match against Wenyi Ding, 2022 U.S. Junior Amatuer Champion, he looks back on the experience with positivity, “It was a lot of fun to play with the best, learn with the best, compete with the best, and overall, enjoy golf with the best.”

The U.S. junior team ultimately won with a score of 13-11. 

What’s next for Ethan

November brought a lot of joy for Ethan as he signed his letter of intent to Stanford University on National Letter of Intent Signing Day. Ethan always wanted to play golf at Stanford, but he says he didn’t put much thought into it at first. Now, in terms of academics and athletics, Stanford is the place for Ethan to grow and thrive.

He’s most looking forward to meeting his teammates and the environment as Stanford is filled with “great, ambitious people.”

Most likely majoring in Mathematics, Ethan aims to learn and do his best in our ever-changing world. Good luck Ethan!

 

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