KU Scholar Athlete of the Month
Joe’s Breakout Year Started With a 63
Joe Muschong
School: Lafayette
GRADE: 12 SportS: Golf
Academics: Joe has a 4.68 weighted GPA, has taken 6 A.P. classes, scored 29 on the ACT and is a National Honor Society and Lafayette Student Council member.
Parents: Kelly & Fred
Let’s hear it for Late Bloomers like championship golfer Joe Muschong of Lafayette High.
Unlike many top youth golfers who pick up the game when they’re barely out of preschool – Tiger Woods famously played on TV as a 2-year-old – Joe played baseball and football first.
At 14, he took up golf and played in only one varsity event as a freshman.
He didn’t break 80 until his sophomore year, but as a junior he placed in the top 10 in three high school tournaments, including a round of 69 at Griffin Gate golf course.
In the Regional tournament, he shot 74 and missed qualifying for the State tournament by one stroke.
Then came his senior year. Joe shot 71 to lead Lafayette to the City championship and clinch the overall Lexington individual points title.
He also was low medalist at the Shelby County tournament and then shot 71 in the Regional to tie for second and qualify for the State tournament – the first General to do so since 2004.
Joe’s high school success was foreshadowed during the City Junior championship in June when he claimed the title with a 63 at Kearney Hill – the lowest score ever recorded in the City Junior event.
With his father, Fred, as his caddie, Joe birdied the 18th hole to post 63.
An athletic 6-feet, 175 pounds, Joe drives the ball 300 yards off the tee. But strength is not the secret to Joe’s breakout year.
For that, credit his prodigious work ethic.
“He is very determined,” his mother, Kelly, said. “Once he sets his mind to something, he works very hard. He’s that way with his schoolwork, too.”
A virtual straight-A student since Day One, Joe carries a 3.97 unweighted GPA (4.68 weighted) and has taken six A.P. classes.
He scored 29 on the ACT and is a member of the National Honor Society as well as the Lafayette Student Council.
He participated in Commerce Lexington’s youth leadership program and is currently being recruited by a number of strong academic colleges to play golf.
“He has always had a great memory, which helped him in school,” Kelly said. “Plus, he’ll stay up as late as he needs to get his work done.”
After a season of so many great moments, Joe has little trouble choosing the best – walking the final holes of the Regional tournament with Lafayette Coach Todd Reynolds by his side.
“He’s a great coach and has helped me so much,” Joe said. “It was special to be with him for one of my last high school rounds.”
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