Stripped of his scholarship, some time away from golf and a new coach at the helm — this year started all sorts of ways for junior A.J. Crouch.
Crouch’s athletic scholarship was taken away during a disappointing sophomore season and he had to make a major life decision: stay at UF, or explore other options.
After choosing to give the university another shot, Crouch has worked himself into first-year head coach JC Deacon’s system and help change the culture of the program.
Now a walk-on, Crouch plans to make the most of the opportunity while he still can.
"The first two seasons, he didn’t fit in too well with the team and his attitude was poor and I think it affected in his golf game," assistant coach John Handrigan said. "This year, since JC arrived, we’ve tried to take a little bit of a different approach with A.J. and we haven’t worked on his golf game at all. All we’ve worked on is his attitude and trying to make him more positive and to believe in himself."
Crouch’s scores on the course have changed dramatically from his first two campaigns with the Gators, but this success isn’t a new feeling for him.
At the prep level, the Jacksonville native led the Bolles School to a state championship title in 2011 and was named the Times-Union All-First Coast High School Golfer of the Year twice.
Crouch started his collegiate career in the fall of 2012 by competing in nine tournaments as a freshman, including all four events in the fall.
During his first year, Crouch finished tied for fourth in one tournament and 11th in another but only cracked the top-25 once in the other seven tournaments he competed in.
Crouch said that his freshman year was a part of a rough patch in his life — one filled with health issues and not living up to the academic standards he had set for himself.
"That really disappointed me, because I’d felt like I let down my dad in school and I felt like I let down my coach and myself and my teammates down on the golf course," Crouch said. "The two of those combined was just tough, I felt like ‘What’s the point if I’m not going to get into the major my dad wants me too?’, and ‘I’m not playing as well as my coach wants me to?’, so it really just took a toll on me. And being in that mindset, it wasn’t like I was going to play good golf again thinking like that."
Crouch failed to break into the starting five for the Gators until October of his second year at The Invitational at the Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
That would be the only time he would see the greens in his second year.
"I really wanted to (have a rebound year), because I felt like freshman year was a let down," Crouch said. "I really wanted to bounce back in the fall and that wasn’t happening. That made me feel even worse about golf."
During the spring semester, coach Buddy Alexander told Crouch that he wasn’t going to compete in another tournament, and that he maybe should take some time away from golf.
"After that happened I was just like so much happier," Crouch said. "I felt like golf was bearing down on me, and when he told me I wasn’t going to play it was a relief."
With some time away from golf, Crouch was able to focus on his classes in the Spring semester and think about his future.
But during his time off, his scholarship was taken away.
For a while, he thought of transferring to another school and hopefully getting another scholarship to play golf.
But Crouch felt he had unfinished business in Gainesville.
"I was weighing the options and people were telling me ‘It’s okay if you transfer’, and come decision time I just couldn’t do it," Crouch said. "I just love this school too much. My teammates, my coaches and I feel like even if I hadn’t played well this year or hadn’t won a tournament, I feel like it’d be the right thing to do for my family and for me to just give the University of Florida another shot, and I’m glad it’s working so far."
Crouch came into this year with a brand-new head coach, and just like everyone else on the team, with a fair chance to play in a tournament. He didn’t change anything about his golf game in his time away from the course, but worked on focusing on the future, not the past.
"When I was a freshman I set all these high goals for myself, and you know when I started playing bad those weren’t going to come true," Crouch said. "Just putting everything behind me was my only goal this year."
Although Deacon hasn’t known Crouch for long, he has already seen changes on and off the course that he thinks have put him on the path to success.
Deacon and the coaching staff have seen Crouch move from a position where he wasn’t going to play golf again for the Gators, to one of the team’s most reliable athletes.
The biggest change his coaches and teammates say they’ve seen in A.J. this year, is that he is more fun to be around.
"I think he’s just a happier person," senior J.D. Tomlinson said. "If you know A.J. off the golf course, last year he was very upset and this year he’s just a lot happier. He likes playing golf, he likes being around people and I think that’s just contributing to how he’s been playing."
Crouch has played in all but the first tournament this season for the Gators, winning the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational and placing second at the Sea Best Invitational in Jacksonville. He also secured a top-10 finish at the Desert Mountain Invitational in March.
With all the doubt he faced early in his career, Crouch said he’s finally proving to himself he can compete at a high level.
"This year, I think our team’s getting along really well. I’m driving the ball really well and I’d say the easiest way to be consistent is to drive it well," Crouch said. "Getting off the tee you’re not going to be in terrible situations if you’re doing well there. And then just my mindset, my focus is there during the tournaments."
Whether Crouch competes or not throughout the postseason, he is just happy to be playing golf again for the Gators.
"I knew I had the capability and the ability to play like I used to and then build on that," Crouch said. "I really just had to get over doubting myself and that’s what kind of sparked this year."
Follow Ryan Summers on Twitter @RyanSummers18
UF's A.J. Crouch follows through on his backswing at the 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 14, 2015 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
