OTHELLO — As someone who’s been on the golf course since before he could walk, it might have come with little surprise to those close to him when Othello High School senior Patrick Azevedo committed to the University of Wyoming to play golf last week.

Azevedo’s legacy as a Huskie began with a thunderous roar as the young golfer walked off The Creek at Qualchan Golf Course in Spokane a 2A state champion as a freshman. Heading into his final spring season with Othello, Azevedo looks to reclaim his title as he gives back to the community that has supported him along the way.

At an early age, Patrick would tag along with his father Guiomar and Guiomar’s good friend, Victor Mendonca, to the golf course. By the time he was walking, he was out hitting balls.

The Othello senior said he never felt any pressure to pursue the game at an early age, only support.

“They always gave me the opportunity to go out to the golf course and spend the day with them and work on my game,” Azevedo said. “And I’m just really grateful for the opportunity both my parents, my mom too, gave me.”

Azevedo said he’s been on the golf course ever since.

“It’s just a game I love because you can’t perfect,” Azevedo said. “There’s so many different shots, different conditions. You can never perfect the game of golf.”

It was the love for the game that led the Othello golfer to continue his career at Wyoming. Originally looking at schools in California to be near his brother, Azevedo said he knew the moment he stepped foot on the campus in Laramie, Wyoming, he’d found his new home.

There’s just something different about the atmosphere in Wyoming that’s difficult to explain, Azevedo said.

“It feels like a family; it feels like a great place where I can really prosper,” Azevedo said. “All the amazing facilities they have, all the amazing resources they give their athletes, it’s just a really great place.”

A driving factor for Azevedo when making his college decision was finding a coach to whom the Othello senior said he could look for anything. In Wyoming head coach Joe Jensen, Azevedo believes he’s found that.

Unlike most college coaches, Azevedo said Jensen brings his entire team to tournaments, rather than six players like most programs. Patrick said he wants to attend a program where he can make an impact from the start.

On top of making important decisions about his future and preparing to cap off his career with Othello, Azevedo is finding a way to give back to the community he said has given him so much.

As a senior project, Azevedo took part in a project, “We Scare Hunger,” to help raise food for the Othello Food Bank. Patrick said his brother was involved with the project two years ago and, after the teacher who had been organizing the event moved to Seattle recently, he saw an opportunity to help continue the cause.

Azevedo expanded the drive to a competition between all the classes at each school, with an ice cream and pizza party coming to the top class at each school. In early December, the Othello senior delivered a total of 955 pounds of food to the food bank.

“I just saw it as a great opportunity to give back any way I can, just give back to the people that aren’t as fortunate as others, that don’t have food on their table every night,” Azevedo said. “It was really cool seeing the community help me raise canned food and stuff for those people in need. It was just a really fun project.”

While the winter cold keeps him off the course, Azevedo said he’s been working on his putting at home, his main focus heading into his senior year. The senior cited the old adage every golfer knows by heart, “drive for show, putt for dough.”

“I try to spend twice as much time on putting as I do on anything else,” Azevedo said.

Going into the season, Patrick said he has two goals, bring home the individual championship for the second time, and help a teammate qualify for the second day at state.

With a short time left before the tees are back in the ground, Azevedo has hopes of recapturing the magic he found as a freshman.

As a freshman, Azevedo said he didn’t even tell people his dream was to win State because he didn’t think that was something a freshman could accomplish. Accomplishing that surrounded by friends and family, Azevedo said, was a surreal moment.

Sophomore year, Azevedo said the pressure to perform at a home course coming off the win last season got to him. The Othello golfer said the defeat hurt, but it only made him train harder.

As a junior, first-day errors proved costly for Azevedo who was forced to fight from behind on the second day, coming up short in a tie for fifth.

This season, the 2A tournament will be held at Indian Canyon Golf Course, a tree-lined course Azevedo said he really likes playing.

“This year, I’m just going to focus on hitting exact shots, hitting shots that I need, staying focused all throughout my round, staying confident and playing my golf,” Azevedo said. “Just sticking to my guns and hopefully it all works out this year.”

Down the road, after his last 18th green at Wyoming, Azevedo said, like any little kid, he has dreams of going pro in the sport he loves. Continuing his golf career in college was a goal, Azevedo said. Now that it’s accomplished, he’ll move on to his next, winning freshman of the year in his conference, maybe win a tournament or two.

“Those are the dreams that I’ve been thinking about ever since I was small, so we’ll just see where this amazing game takes me, and hopefully everything works out,” Azevedo said.

For all that he’s accomplished already as a high school senior, Azevedo said he thanks God because, without him, none of it would have been possible.

As someone who’s been on the golf course since before he could walk, it doesn’t sound like Azevedo will be leaving it anytime soon.