By CHRIS COX

For Tulsa Union sophomore Samuel Bonaobra, golf was a natural sport to start playing.

“Both of my brothers played golf and I was always with them,” he said. “My dad also liked golf and got me involved. I’ve been playing for about nine or 10 years now.”

For Bonaobra, the individual nature of the sport is something that drew him to golf and has kept him playing for roughly a decade.

“I like how it’s all on you and you can’t blame anybody but yourself for what happens,” he says. “All the good shots are on you and all the bad shots are on you. It puts a lot of responsibility on yourself. I like to control what I can and try to do my best. But I know that if I do good, my team will do good too.”

There are a lot of styles and personalities on a golf course and Bonaobra says he’s tried to capture the best personality traits of a couple different pros on tour.

“Some of the golfers I’ve looked up to are Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, and Collin Morikawa,” he says. “They all bring something different. Obviously, Tiger is Tiger. I like watching Morikawa because he has a good attitude and is always happy. You don’t really see him get down. Justin Thomas is a very competitive person. He gets locked in when he needs to and is very clutch. I try to stay relaxed and have fun but get locked in when it’s time to hit a shot.”

Bonaobra hopes he’s able to stay locked in throughout the season so he and his Union teammates can achieve some lofty goals.

“I want to win a couple of school tournaments first,” he says. “But my biggest goal is to try and win 6A state as an individual and place in the top three as a team.”

Ultimately for Bonaobra, no matter what he scores on the course, he hope to carry himself well.

“Character is about having a good attitude, being positive, being nice, and being a good person,” he says.

While he is a sophomore, Samuel does hope to play golf in college.

“I want to go D-1 in golf,” he says. “I want to go to a good school and hopefully get a scholarship to that school.”