Wren flies high at the finish
Published 9:19 pm Saturday, May 31, 2014
There are few things better in life than finishing well.
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy senior golfer Trey Wren finished out his high school career in exactly that manner. He earned the top individual score in the state tournament to become the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division II Player of the Year and lead his team to the state championship.
The accomplishment also netted him a nomination and a win as the Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the Week.
Wren shot a two-over-par 73 on a challenging and damp course at states. Getting the top score in the event was largely about redemption to him.
“The last year at states, I played bad, two years ago at states I played bad, so it’s definitely the biggest accomplishment,” he said, ranking it among his feats as a golfer at NSA.
He golf career had an unusual start about six years ago.
“My grandmother got me into it,” he said. “My grandmother said, ‘Let’s go play golf,’ and then we did. So, then, it’s all, I guess, history.”
He said he started playing every day in the eighth grade.
His grandma, Nancy Wren, who is well-known for having formerly organized LPGA tournaments in the area, remembered her grandson’s story a little differently.
“I never played golf until six years ago, and Trey expressed an interest in it, so we started together,” she said. “Now, he left me in the dust early on.”
Explaining why the sport grabbed his interest, he said, “It’s a challenge. It’s fun, it’s different. You can do it on your own. It’s a tough game, and I wanted to try and beat it. Obviously, you can never beat it,” but he likes trying to get as close as he can.
Nancy Wren said she hopes all of her grandchildren will take up golf, because it’s an opportunity for her to spend time with them, like she did with Trey.
“We learned together, and it was great fun, and I knew right away that if he was determined and persevered, that he had the ability to be a really good golfer,” she said.
She noted his father, Ken Wren, has talent on the links, too, which Trey Wren also acknowledged.
“I guess he kind of got me into it, as well,” Wren said. “My first goal was to beat my dad.”
It took a while, but he was eventually able to.
Now, having graduated from NSA, he plans to go to the International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head, S.C. where he will focus exclusively on golf.
“I’m taking basically a year off of school, and I’m going to be working with their coaches and playing tournaments every week for the next year, basically,” he said. “It’s just an extra year to get recruited and to get better.”