Past SF champ off to military championships
First Lt. Miguel Macias to play for Air Force
First Lt. Miguel Macias won a couple of high school state golf championships in 2009 and 2010 when he played at St. Michael’s.
And he had an accomplished career on the links playing for the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
But now Macias is taking his game international.
This weekend, he is heading to Amsterdam to play in the World Armed Forces Championships as a part of a six-man team that will represent the U.S. against military members from around the globe.
The Air Force ran away with the qualifying tournament at the U.S. Armed Force Golf Championships at the par-72, 6,624-yard Old Hickory Course at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, beating the Army by seven strokes.
It was a sweet victory in the tournament that also included teams from the Marines and the Navy.
“Playing golf at the Air Force Academy, the biggest tournament was the service academy championship against West Point and the Naval Academy,” Macias said. “We were annually always in contention. We won 15 service academy championships in a row until Army tied us in the fall of 2012.”
This helped assuage that disappointment, he said.
“Having experienced that as a cadet and experienced that as an active-duty officer, you always want to beat the other services,” Macias said. “It’s a big deal. It gives us bragging rights for the year. There’s always a lot of emotions and willpower that goes into these rounds.”
Macias finished the tournament with an even-288, much better than his result at the Air Force qualifying event on the same course, when he finished 13-over par.
But being stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, Macias was not quite used to the different playing style required with East Coast golf.
“I think that high score can be attributed to making adjustments to playing in humidity and at sea level, and the Bermuda grass,” he said. “That was something I had done very rarely in my golf career. You have to analyze the lie, determine how the ball comes out of the grass. Since I don’t have as much experience on Bermuda, it’s always a challenge to figure out what the ball is going to do.”
Because his role in the Air Force is as an operations research analyst, however, Macias was able to figure it out in time for the U.S. military championships.
This was his first crack at the event after taking some time off from competitive golf following completion of his time at the academy.
“I had played golf competitively for the past 15 years but, after the academy, I said it was going to take it easy for a while,” Macias said. “But after about a year, I got the itch.”
So he started gearing up by hitting the courses around the base near Las Vegas, Nev.
“I mostly just play on the weekends, maybe practice during the week,” he said. “There are a lot of good courses here and a lot of good competition, as well.”
Macias just finished up his stint at Nellis and, after the tournament is over, he will report to Dayton, Ohio, to attend graduate school at the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He’ll study operations research to earn a master’s degree.
As for plans thereafter, “I’ll go where they need me,” Macias said.
And as for immediate plans in Amsterdam, he just wants to enjoy his time there.
“I’m very excited,” he said. “It will be my first time competing outside of the U.S., so I’m not exactly sure what to expect, but I’m really looking forward to the experience. I’m trying to soak it all in.
“It’s a unique opportunity, and I’m going to try to relish every moment and have as much fun as I possibly can. It’s not every day the services let you take off time to play golf.”