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Published: 6/20/2012 | Updated: 6/19/2012
By MATT SCHUCKMAN
Herald-Whig Sports Writer
Cory Boots addresses the ball, waggles his club and swings. The ball rockets off the face of his driver, carrying down the right side of the fairway and past the bunker. It leaves him the perfect angle to attack the pin. Unfortunately, his approach shot is a little long and rolls off the side of the green. Boots gets up and down for par, but he knows he missed a birdie chance. Hoping to contend for the title this week in the boys 16-17 division of the Pepsi Titan Little People's Golf Championships after shooting a 78 in the opening round, Boots knows he can't afford to let those opportunities slip away. "Consistency is the biggest thing for me," said Boots, who will be a senior at Quincy High School this fall. "I can shoot 72 or I can shoot 80. I need to work on my consistency." That takes time, something Boots now has. It's something he won't ever take for granted. Boots spent nearly a year at Midwest Academy in Keokuk, Iowa, helping him learn to make better decisions in his personal life. A private boarding school designed to help struggling teens develop leadership and life skills, Midwest Academy is no frills and no fun. There are no cell phones. There is no Internet. And no one plays golf. "It's what I missed the most," said Boots, who returned to Quincy in April. "That's all I thought about. We had share time and that's all I would talk about. It was just golf and how I missed golf. All I thought about was golf and how QHS was doing. It was hard, especially on that state tournament day. "I knew which day it was. It was hard not being able to play." That has him hungry to make up for lost time. The Blue Devils missed out on a chance to make the state tournament field last fall, finishing seventh at the Class 3A Joliet Sectional after tying for first at the Collinsville Regional. However, QHS returns five of its top six golfers and adds Boots back to the mix. "I love playing for the Blue Devils," Boots said. "It's the best experience. We get along and we're all friends, but we push each other. We all want to beat each other. That makes things competitive." Since Boots' return, he has played nearly every day with QHS teammate Zach Burry. Although Boots said he is still getting comfortable playing again, Burry knows his swing is returning. "Slowly but surely, but you can tell he's still there," Burry said. The difference is Boots handles things different. Some might say better. He's showing he can be more mature. "I wasn't making the best choices before," Boots said. "I've learned from my mistakes and I've moved on leading a better life. I'm pretty happy about that." He wasn't so positive when his parents made the decision to send him to Midwest Academy in April of his sophomore year at QHS. "I wasn't really for it in the beginning," Boots said. "After a while, I was happy to be there. I realized I wasn't making the right choices. I needed to learn." Now, he's out to relearn his swing and his game. "The last time I really played was the state tournament my sophomore year," Boots said. He shot a 3-over 75 in the first round and was tied for ninth individually. But that's more than 18 months ago now. "Teeing it up for the first time since then, I was really nervous," Boots said. "I wasn't sure what to expect. Now that I'm back, I feel more confident. I'm slowly getting back into it." Yet, his swing looks so natural and seems so effortless. It's not, not by a long shot. Boots is OK with that. The feel for the game is returning, and he knows he'll find that perfect rhythm again. More importantly, he's finding that in his personal life. "I definitely think it was for the good," Boots said of his time at Midwest Academy. "I know I learned from it." -- mschuckman@whig.com/221-3366
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