JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- After months of continuous preparation and four hard-fought days of competition, Senior Master Sgt. Jason Perry never envisioned his future on the Air Force Golf Team coming down to the final hole of the team’s annual “try out” tournament at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
He’s competed on the team many times, but this year’s competition is proving to be some of the toughest he’s faced before. If he out-putts his opponent, he makes the team. If he doesn’t, he fails to make the team for only the third time in his nine attempts.
Perry, who will soon pin on chief master sergeant, was introduced to golf by his father and has been playing since he was 7 years old.
“I played with him and had those bonding moments,” said Perry, Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory superintendent. “Then, in high school, I developed my passion for it. Ever since then, I just love it; whether I can get out to the course on the weekend and play or not, I always find time to watch it.”
He played on his high school team and then recreationally when he joined the Air Force. Then he heard the Air Force has its own golf team.
“The first year I tried out, I won the United States Air Forces Europe championship, and whoever won that got an automatic berth into the Air Force championship,” Perry added.
Once an Airman makes the Air Force team, he or she is eligible to try out for the Armed Forces team, which is made up of the best golfers in the military, he said. The Armed Forces team competes against other nation’s teams in a tournament somewhere around the globe. He’s been a member of the Armed Forces team three times in his career.
“In 2007, I made the (Armed Forces) team, and we were flown to play our tournament in Sun City, South Africa,” he said. “The course we played is used on the European Tour. It’s like a safari out there; there were monkeys who had free rein of the resort area, and from the golf course, you could see elephants roaming around. That was probably the coolest place I’ve ever been to play golf.”
Perry hasn’t just traveled to South Africa to play golf, but has played all over the world, from some of the most prestigious courses in the United States to the birthplace of golf in Scotland. However, playing golf at exotic locales isn’t why Perry continues serving in the Air Force.
“Although I love the game, it doesn’t compare to being in a leadership position,” Perry said. “As a leader in the Air Force, you have the ability to change lives and make people better; that’s what I like to do, to see them grow.”
Perry wants to let the young Airmen know, there are Air Force teams for just about every sport imaginable.
“Most people probably don’t do it because they’re intimidated,” Perry said. “They’re afraid to fail, so the best piece of advice I could give someone that wants to try out for a sport is to just go for it, put yourself on the line to see if you can respond to that atomosphere.”
The drive for competition still pushes Perry forward; he hates to lose no matter what event he is competing in.
“I still won’t let my kids win at anything,” he laughed. “It’s my competitiveness, and I hope to pass that along to my kids.”
This year’s Air Force tournament was full of drama as it ended with a sudden death playoff that lasted eight holes with Perry making a birdie on the final hole and capturing the sixth and final spot on the team.
“I love the mental test that is golf, to see what you’re made of,” he said.
Perry will continue to try out for the team in the years to come, and as with any competitive person he plans to make the team every time.