State champ to hit greens for the Virginia Cavaliers

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Danny Walker knew he was making the right choice.

From the moment he set foot on the University of Virginia’s campus, the Lakewood Ranch High junior felt right at home. Last month, Walker verbally committed to play golf for the Cavaliers.

Walker also visited Auburn, Notre Dame, the University of Central Florida, the University of North Florida and Florida State, but Walker decided Virginia offered everything he was looking for, including solid academics, a fun campus and surrounding area and a coach with a strong passion for the game.

“It was a great opportunity,” Walker says of committing to Virginia. “It feels great to be committed to such a great school. I’m really happy that all of my hard work paid off and the stress of the recruiting process is over.”

Since joining the Mustangs golf team as a freshman, Walker has helped lead Lakewood to two consecutive Class 2A state championships. Walker also captured the Class 2A individual state championship as a freshman in 2010, shooting a 4-under-par 140 to edge past Riverview’s Mike Visacki.

With the recruiting process behind him, Walker, who trains at the Missing Link Golf Academy in Lakewood Ranch, will spend the summer working on his game and preparing for his final high school season with the hopes of bringing another state championship — this time in Class 3A — back to Lakewood.

In addition, Walker plans to play in some amateur tournaments. In 2012, Walker, who is ranked ninth in his class and 24th overall in the American Junior Golf Association Polo Golf Rankings, tied for second at the Western Junior and was an honorable mention AJGA Rolex All-American.

Walker will sign his national letter of intent following the 2013 golf season.

“I’m really looking forward to the whole experience of college golf and being around an environment that will help me reach my goals.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].