BY STEVE VIRGEN / JOURNAL ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Neil Parasher, an 18-year-old Albuquerque Academy graduate headed to Stanford to walk on for golf, knows to adjust when an 8-foot birdie putt turns into a four-putt frustration that results in a double bogey.
Parasher has learned to apply the many lessons of golf in his life. His love for the game helped him gain great confidence figuratively when it’s time has to move on to the next hole.
He was even through 10 holes at the one-round U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifier at UNM Championship Golf Course on June 14. But then came the par-3 No. 11 hole that crushed his momentum and knocked him off his game with that dreaded double-bogey. He finished 5-over 77 and 10th in the event that had one qualifying spot.
Parasher will be back at it Wednesday, when he plays in the two-day U.S. Junior PGA Championship qualifier at UNM Championship. He will be vying to finish in the top two to qualify for the event at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Palos Park, Illinois Aug. 2-5. Parasher won the qualifier at UNM Championship last year.
On Sept. 20, Parasher, who graduated with a 4.6 grade-point average, plans to leave for Stanford, where he will major in computer science.
He was also accepted into UCLA, USC, Cal, UC Irvine, University of San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and Texas.
