Growing up in White Oak, Pa., golf was not a sport many kids pursued. Even Max Kaminsky admits basketball was his first true love.

However, after high school, he came to Point Park University on a golf scholarship where he began to get the ball rolling toward his dreams.

“It was probably this past summer when I started getting progressively better over time when I realized my goal is to actually turn pro,” Kaminsky, 20, said.

Kaminsky first picked up a club at the age of three when his father took him into an empty field across the street

“I owe everything to my dad,” Kaminsky said. “When I played with him and his friends they would say if I could win a hole, I’d get a quarter. Those little things taught me how to deal with pressure at a young age.”

Kevin Kaminsky, who referred to himself as a “hack,” did manage to teach his son everything he knew about the game, but everything else he had to discover on his own.

Kaminsky’s first competitive match came at the age of 11 when he participated in a U.S. junior golf event in Ohio. The tournament hosted kids from across the nation, and Kaminsky remembers being the only one there without an instructor.

“I was so nervous,” Kaminsky said. “I remember the first nine holes, I played really bad, but I calmed down. I thought it was cool that I could say that I was the only one there who had my dad teach me everything.

Though Kaminsky’s first tournament didn’t go completely as planned, he would not be waiting long for his first taste of success.

Kaminsky was 12 years old when he signed up for the Northeast Junior Golf tournament at the Cedarbrook Golf Course in Belle Vernon, Pa. Kaminsky could once again feel the nerves as he approached the tee box, but he managed to keep them in check and play his game. Now, he not only played a solid round, he went out and won the one-day event with a score of 75.

“It was a great moment to experience,” Kaminsky said. “It just made me love the game even more. It also helped me confidence wise, especially with bigger tournaments. I could reflect on that tournament and know that I could win anything.”

 In high school, Kaminsky really came into his own as an athlete. He attended private school at Serra Catholic, where he played basketball in the winter and golf over the summer. All of his hard work paid off as he found himself succeeding in both basketball and golf.

In basketball, Kaminsky was a three-point sharpshooter who reached the 1,000 point mark, but his greatest success came in golf as a freshman. He won the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) Division II championship when he shot a two over-par 74 to win by one stroke at the Youghiogheny Country Club in Elizabeth Township. He was the first athlete in history to take the title, much less as a freshman.

“I figured if I can do that, why can’t I compete at any level?” Kaminsky said. “It woke me up to the reality that if I want to be a pro, I have to start winning things.”

This was a mentality that he brought to Point Park, but he was caught off guard by the overall level of competition.

“It was definitely a big transition between high school and college,” Kaminsky said. “I didn’t realize how good others were. I really struggled my first couple months from nerves, but I managed to calm down in the spring.”

Entering the spring season, the senior-loaded team was looking to win the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) championship for the third year in a row. The freshman star produced his best work of the season on the final day of the tournament at the Liberty Country Club in Liberty, Ind. Kaminsky shot a final round 74, which was good enough for third individually. He shot the second-best overall score for Point Park with a three-day total of 228, which helped propel the Pioneers to a 15-stroke championship victory.

This accomplishment was something that never would have happened without the work of last year’s senior class, Kaminsky added.

“I loved that team,” he said. “The seniors helped me with the physical and mental parts of the game. I definitely didn’t know what to expect, but they were experienced and knew it all.”

Entering the summer, Kaminsky knew he not only had to improve his game, but he had to prepare for a different role on the team.

“The coach told me I had to be a leader now, and I’m starting to take that role,” he said.

Kaminsky has made strong efforts to make the new guys on the team comfortable, according to freshman Jared Bender.

“Max has a year under his belt and doesn’t seem to feel the pressure anymore,” Bender said. “He’s always loose and having fun, and that’s something us younger guys feed off of.”

Kaminsky knew being a leader was about much more than helping the younger guys. It also entailed leading by example, which meant shooting the lowest scores. That’s why he took it on himself to put in the work this summer.

Kaminsky’s daily routine involved waking up early and getting a strong core workout in. He would do various ab exercises for an hour before going on a run. From there, he would head to the range for three to four hours. If he didn’t have to work that day, he would then go out and walk nine holes at Butler’s Golf Course, where he works.

Now, Kaminsky’s greatest challenge is keeping up the momentum through the winter break.

“The break stinks,” Kaminsky said. “But whenever the weather breaks, I’m right back out there. It’s just tough because you have to get back out there and back in the grind.”

Now with the spring season weeks away, Kaminsky has turned his attention to the team. His goal for the season is for the team to return to nationals.

“Personally, I just want to win as a team and post the best scores I can,” he said. “Even if I come in last at every tournament, I wouldn’t care as long as we get to nationals.”