Catalina Foothills’ Alex Ramos, who shot a 59 at age 14, is driven to succeed | Michael Lev

How much does Alex Ramos love golf?

Even after a long day of school, practice and homework — a day that might start with a 6 a.m. wakeup call and a 7:20 arrival at Catalina Foothills High School to make up for missed time — you’re liable to see Ramos on the practice green at Crooked Tree Golf Course on Tucson’s northwest side until they turn the lights off at 10 p.m.

Ramos, a sophomore at Catalina Foothills, believes there’s always something to work on, tweak, improve, perfect. That degree of devotion — commitment bordering on obsession — has enabled Ramos, 15, to become one of the top golfers in his age group in Arizona.

Last summer, when he was 14, Ramos shot a 59 on a par-70 course at a Junior Golf Association of Arizona event — believed to be the first recorded 59 by a junior in state history. This summer, he played on Steph Curry’s Underrated Golf Tour. Earlier this month, he helped the Falcons win the Brophy Invitational against a stacked field.

So far this season, Ramos ranks third statewide among 10th-graders in 18-hole scoring and sixth in nine-hole scoring in AIA events.

It’s impossible to calculate how many hours he’s put in to get to this point.

“I’m always out here,” Ramos said after pounding balls on the driving range in 100-degree heat on a recent afternoon at El Conquistador Golf Club.

“Even when my friends might invite me out to a football game or something, I’m always like, ‘I’m gonna go practice.’ It’s kind of my happy place.

“I really just love to be out here swinging a club.”

When I heard Alex and his mother, Pahola, describe his schedule, the first thing I thought was: This kid is obsessed. That word can have a negative connotation.

Longtime Catalina Foothills golf coach Julie Walters doesn’t see it that way. She sees someone who truly enjoys what he’s doing, including the never-ending quest to improve that all serious golfers share.

“I don’t know that I would use the word obsessed as much as he’s really committed to golf,” said Walters, whose Falcons play in the 29-team Dobson Classic Wednesday and Thursday in Mesa. “I think he sees golf as his happy place ... something he really wants to be good at and is good at, so he enjoys the time he spends. You have to be committed to putting in the time to get to the level where he’s playing.

“I think he sees it as all positive. That’s where he wants to spend his time.”

The funny thing is, when Ramos’ dad introduced him to the game, he wanted nothing to do with it.

Acquired taste

Alex was about 5 years old when his father, also named Alex, first put a club in his hands.

“I did not like it at all,” said the younger Alex Ramos, who also goes by AJ. “I was like, ‘This is way too slow.’”

Ramos preferred soccer. That changed three years later, when Alex Sr. took his son and other family members to the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. It’s easily the most raucous, energized stop on the PGA Tour. Young Alex was hooked.

“I was in the crowd,” Ramos said, “and I was loving it.”

His father got him some second-hand clubs and started taking him to the course. (Alex Sr. is a weekend duffer whose handicap is in the 12-15 range and who has achieved his lifelong goal of breaking 80.) Alex Jr. entered a Drive, Chip & Putt event, and it didn’t go well.

“We got our butts kicked so bad,” Alex Sr. said. “We were like, ‘We don’t belong here.’”

Undaunted, Alex Jr. kept practicing and playing. His solution to most problems is more practice.

He played in U.S. Kids Golf tournaments in Phoenix. Again, it was a struggle.

“Oh my goodness,” Alex Sr. remembered thinking, “we are so out of our league.”

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But his son was motivated. He saw his friends earn medals for finishing in the top five.

“It kind of became this obsession,” Alex Sr. said.

There’s that word again. He continued.

“A few tournaments went by, and he gets into the top five,” Alex Sr. said. “From there it started to grow. ‘I have to get into the top three.’ It happened progressively like that. He always had that determination. He knew what he wanted. And we were not pushing it whatsoever. We said, ‘We’ll be there as a support system. But you drive the bus. You tell us when you want to practice.’”

Alex Jr. didn’t need to be nudged. He loved the sound and feeling of making crisp, clean contact with a golf ball. He loved being outside. He loved what the game was teaching him about patience and being in the moment.

“Something about it just keeps having me come back,” Ramos said. “The feeling I have when I hit the golf ball and hit it right in the middle of the (club) face. The lessons that it teaches me, to always be time efficient and always be respectful to others and respectful to the craft.”

Staying level-headed

Ramos won five JGAA events in 2024, including the Sam Schanafelt Summer Classic at Starfire Golf Club in Scottsdale. That’s where he made history.

On July 17, Ramos shot the round of his young life. He made three bridies and an eagle on the front nine and six birdies on the back. A 59. Epic.

Around No. 14, where he made the fourth of five consecutive birdies, Ramos knew he had a chance for a sub-60 round. When he sank a par putt on 18, he felt “ecstatic.”

But he knew that feeling would be fleeting. He didn’t let it linger.

“I knew ... there’s a chance that I might not ever have this again in my life,” Ramos said. “The main thing is just to keep trying to get it — maybe one day, who knows? — and just keep taking it one shot at a time.

“I had a tournament a week after, and it was ... the same mentality: one shot at a time, just trying to put together as many good shots as possible and not fretting too much over the bad shots.”

Ramos’ parents and Walters had high praise for Alex’s mentality on the golf course. They all described him as uncommonly level-headed. It’s a great mindset to have in sports, in particular this one.

It was especially helpful earlier this year when Ramos wasn’t scoring as well as last year. A growth spurt might have contributed to that. His putting wasn’t as sharp as usual either. So of course, Ramos went into the lab and got to work.

He tinkered with his swing. He changed his putting style, adopting the “claw” grip used by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, among others.

Ramos’ birdie putt on his 18th hole provided the winning margin for Catalina Foothills in the Sept. 3-4 Brophy Invitational at Papago Golf Club in Phoenix. The Falcons edged Scottsdale’s Notre Dame Prep by one stroke.

Ramos experienced a sense of “overwhelming joy” when he saw the scoreboard, ran to his teammates and shared a group hug.

Notre Dame Prep ran away from the field to win the 2024 Division II boys golf state championship. Despite Zachary Schaefer and Chase Cesarek shooting a combined 15 under par over two rounds for Catalina Foothills, the Falcons finished a distant second.

Catalina Foothills regularly contends for the state title but hasn’t won one since 2016.

“We’re gonna try and bring it back to the Foothills,” Ramos said.

This year’s state tournament is slated for Oct. 29-30. In the meantime, don’t be surprised if you see a skinny, determined 15-year-old on the driving range or the practice green. There’s no place Alex Ramos would rather be.

“I don’t know what drives him,” his father said. “But at the end of the day, that’s what makes him more prone to continue to improve — and hopefully succeed.”