Oak Park High golfer nominated for prestigious award

Oak Park High senior varsity golfer Eric Johnson is among 12 semifinalists announced by The First Tee for the third annual RBS Achievers of the Year Awards, a national program created by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, in conjunction with Charter One and Citizens Bank, to recognize deserving participants of The First

Tee and help fund their future education.   The RBS Achievers of the Year Awards recognize outstanding participants for succeeding in school and their daily lives as a result of their experience with The First Tee.

The goal of the Achievers Awards is to positively impact youth by rewarding selected participants for exemplifying one or more of The First Tee Nine Core Values by demonstrating leadership, community service, teamwork, overcoming obstacles and improving school grades and attitude.

The First Tee Nine Core Values are honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment.   Johnson, a three-year varsity letter winner for the Oak Park golf team, was nominated by the Ventura County Junior Golf Association, the First Tee Chapter in Ventura County.

As a junior, he had a stroke average of 86 while playing in nearly half of the team's 23 regular-season matches. Johnson is among the top students at Oak Park, where he has a GPA of 4.3.

"The First Tee core values describe Eric well," VCJGA executive director Sean Farnan said in a statement.

"He has this quiet confidence that makes you expect that he will always do well. Despite having recently lost his father, I believe

he sees the glass as always half full, and more importantly, you can tell that he's always thinking about how he can fill it up more."

Johnson and the other semifinalists each receive a $1,000 scholarship and an all expenses paid trip to the PGA Championship at Medina Country Club in August.

Two finalists, one female and one male, will be announced during an awards dinner at the PGA Championship on Aug. 16. Each will receive a $10,000 scholarship to help fund their future education.