Editor’s Note: This is the first installment of an ongoing series on Harwood graduates.  Spearheaded by Jesse McDougall (HUHS ’19), these stories will feature graduates and where life has taken them.

Jesse McDougall  came to our class to talk about journalism and discuss his Harwood (and after) career.  We spoke about one particular graduate from Harwood, Aiden Melville (HUHS ’19) whom we contacted and had a meeting discussing his time here and his path after Harwood.  

Commonground had the opportunity to talk to some Harwood graduates about their time here and after high school, including Aiden Melville, who graduated from Harwood in 2019, and who was a crucial member of the Harwood golf team.  He now lives in Florida, where he works as a golf professional. 

Melville has played golf almost his entire life, starting when he was 10 years old.  He played casually up until he started playing for Harwood competitively. 

Commonground sat down with Aiden Melville to talk about his experiences with Harwood and his time after.  “I decided … sophomore year that I wanted to take it a little more seriously. So I started competing more throughout New England and playing in more serious tournaments,” said Melville.

Brian McCarthy was his coach at the time. He says that Melville was “Hardworking and intense for a young person.” As a freshman, Brian said he brought a leadership quality that benefited the team.  

After high school, Melville went to college north of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.  “I liked everything I did. I didn’t really have a major path,” said Melville, “I was not majoring or getting into anything related to golf at the time.” 

Unfortunately, this was when COVID hit. 

He had to finish his freshman year of college online.  He decided to take a gap year because with COVID, sports at school were shuttered.  During the summer, he moved down to Miami, Florida.  In Florida, he played golf a lot, so he started to look for a job.

Melville wanted to work on a golf course, so he started as a “cart guy” and worked in the bag room.  “But it turned into an opportunity where I met a couple people. I met a golf pro who was my boss and he kind of said, well, what’s your plan? Like what are you doing?” said Melville.

Melville’s boss gave him an unconventional route to becoming a golf professional, but this route worked out for him.  He currently works at Cabot Citrus Farms in Brooksville, Florida, where he does many things, but mainly operates the golf club.

There are many different paths you can take when you leave high school that lead you to doing something that you love to do and something that could bring you success.  Melville says that his Harwood experiences helped him become who he is today.