Mason Eaton, who lives in Lakeville, started playing golf competitively at the age of 12. Photos: Team Minnesota
Mason Eaton and Jake Heinrich are named to Minnesota’s inaugural junior golf team.
Aspiring young golfers in the state have a new opportunity for training and competition. As part of the new U.S. National Development Program (USNDP), Team Minnesota is the state’s first junior elite golf team, created to identify and provide critical development to talented young golfers.
Mason Eaton of Lakeville and Jake Heinrich of Prior Lake are two of the 24 athletes on the inaugural roster. They earned their spots on the team by competing in specific tournaments and earning points based on their performances, says Holly Noble, captain of Team Minnesota and Minnesota Golf Association women’s golf manager. “A program like the state team elevates these 24 players on a national scale, so that they can get noticed without having to be playing around the country year-round,” Noble says.
Mason, a senior at Rosemount High School, was introduced to golf by his dad, Austin Eaton, who competed in the 2005 Masters Tournament. “We would go out to the golf course for fun and to spend time in nature,” Mason says. “My dad never forced me to pursue the game or pushed me to practice more. He believed that I would find my love for the game on my own.”
Mason started playing golf competitively around the age of 12, after he broke a growth plate and couldn’t run, which meant he could no longer play baseball.
Off the golf course, Mason says a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis at the age of 7 helped him become more responsible. “My life is in my hands 24 hours a day,” he says. “I never get to sit back and take a break.”
He brings all of those life experiences to his golf game and looks forward to bringing the lessons he’s learned on Team Minnesota to South Dakota State University this fall. “I hope that Team Minnesota can give us the best opportunity to develop our own games,” he says. “It’s something that I worked really hard to achieve, and I am very proud to represent this team and this state.”
Jake Heinrich, a senior at Prior Lake High School, will play golf at the University of South Carolina Beaufort this fall.
Jake, a senior at Prior Lake High School, has been playing golf for seven years. “For most of my life, all I played was hockey, and I wanted nothing to do with golf,” Jake says. “My parents took me to the range one day, and I fell in love with the challenge and individual aspect of the game. I love when hard work correlates directly to success, but I also love the complexity of golf when it doesn’t work out that way. Golf is all about finding what works for you personally, and I am all for that.”
Jake is committed to play golf at the University of South Carolina Beaufort in the fall, and he’s thankful for his opportunity to join Team Minnesota. “It’s an incredible opportunity to learn from and develop beside those same guys I have competed against for the last four or five years,” Jake says.
Team Minnesota
Instagram: @teammngolf
