High School Golfer Wins State Championship With Crazy Shot From Lake

Water hazards are called hazards for a reason. Most golfers agonize over seeing their ball drop into the pond, which most of the team warrants a stroke penalty to get it back on dry land.

James Nicholas was not about to give up so easily. The Scarsdale High School senior was playing with the New York state championship on the line, and when he was able to locate his ball at the edge of a lake, he resolved to play the ball from its lie.

Nicholas stepped into the water, which was a respectable effort on his own. But all of that paled to the quality of his actual shot:

It's hard to overstate how tough that shot was -- standing with one foot in lake mud and accounting for the water's optical distortion as you line up for a very sensitive chip shot with a high-risk of error. Yet Nicholas clears the water hazard mostly unfazed, and he went on to win the state title.

What's next for this kid? Just a golf scholarship to Yale, where he's attending this fall. According to his Twitter account, Nicholas will also be playing football. Pretty interesting combo for a two-sport college star.

Smart kid, good golfer. Go Bulldogs.