Oct. 3, 2012

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Each week during the 2012-13 season a Maryland student-athlete, who has shown excellence on and off the playing field, will be selected as the Solomon Eye Associates Terp of the Week. This week's Solomon Eye Associates Terp of the Week is Sean Bosdosh from the men's golf team. Bosdosh shot a 4-under 212 at the 54-hole event to capture the first individual title by a Terp since October of 2010.

By Vince Barnaba | Maryland Media Relations Student Assistant

When Sean Bosdosh's father approached him during his freshman year of high school and suggested that Sean choose one sport to focus on and pursue, the decision was an easy one.

"I have grown up golfing with my family," Boshdosh said. "My dad is a top-100 golf instructor. It's a sport I love, and with his help I thought it would be best for me to stop playing other sports and solely focus on golf."

That decision paid off last weekend with Bosdosh winning the VCU Shootout and becoming the first Maryland golfer to capture an individual title since October 2010.

Entering the final round Tuesday Bosdosh sat alone at the top of the leaderboard, with four golfers sitting one stroke behind him and three others just two shots behind him. Bosdosh had felt this pressure before and knew that there was nothing he could control other than himself heading into the final round.

"I had been in situations like that before over the summer," said Bosdosh. "All I can control is myself and my process. I was playing the same game that I have played every day I go out there. If I gave it my all, that's all I can do."

In addition, his older brother Stephen is also a member of the Maryland golf team, his younger sister is a competitive golfer in high school, and his mother plays golf regularly.

Every Sunday the Bosdosh family would go out and play a round together. While the round was not competitive and more of a family bonding event, it is something that Bosdosh remembers.

"Golf has really brought our family together," said Bosdosh. "We have always been a golf related family."

Bosdosh recalls his best golf memory not as a single round but rather playing in the summer with his brother and sister.

"We grew up next to Little Bennett Golf Course. Every morning during the summer, my sister, brother and I would walk there and play all day," recalls Bosdosh. "Right before dinner we would always have a chipping contest. Sometimes we would even go into the dark."

Those endless summers of practice are finally paying off for Bosdosh as he has strung together four straight rounds shooting below-par.

"The biggest thing is practice doesn't pay off over night," said Bosdosh. It pays off after days, months and years. I have worked hard all my life. It started to show this past summer. I need to keep working knowing that I am going to continue to get better."

Bosdosh won the 91st Maryland Open this past summer and finished second in the Maryland State Amateur Championship. He wants to carry this success into the school year and continue to shoot consistent rounds toward his goal of qualifying for an All American Honor, and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Coming to Maryland has helped Bosdosh realize these goals as well as what he wants to do once his golf career here at Maryland is finished.

"My biggest goal is to play on the PGA Tour," said Bosdosh. I have been training towards that for a while. College golf and the ACC in particular have helped me toward that. The guys I am playing against will be on the tour. If I can play with these guys now I know I can eventually make it to the tour."

This goal of competing on the PGA Tour is one that Bosdosh shares with his father. His father has played in several qualifiers.

"I would love to do it for my dad. I love having him there and him helping me," said Bosdosh. "I try to do well for him. He has put in so much work and sacrifice to give me the opportunity to play in college. Making it to the PGA would culminate everything we have worked for."

Of all the things that Bosdosh's father has taught him, the mental side of the game is something that sticks with him.

"Golf is very mental; you have to accept that you can and can't do certain things. You have to believe in your ability and go out there and do the things that you can."

Putting together that mental toughness taught to him by his dad, and the hours of physical practice is finally paying dividends for Bosdosh. He was thrilled to check off an individual title from his list of goals, however, he knows that he must continue to work to achieve the other things on that list.