A self-professed "Army brat," he was born in Germany, and lived in Australia, Kansas, Virginia and North Carolina.

But one of the biggest changes in Mason's life came when he decided to give up playing his favorite sport in high school.

"I wanted to play baseball in college," said the 2001 graduate of Leilehua. "I decided to give it up senior year to play golf."

Mason's success in college shows he likely made the right decision.

The junior became the first UHH golfer to win a tournament at the Buzzini/Stanislaus Golf Invitational last Tuesday in Turlock, Calif. He shot a record-breaking 7-under 65 in the second round to set a tournament single-round scoring record, and won a tiebreaker with Cal State Stanislaus' Ryan Thornberry to win the event.

Mason's second-place finish (70-68-69—207) at the TaylorMade/Waikoloa Intercollegiate tournament at the Waikoloa Kings' Course in February was the best ever by a Hawai'i golfer in the tournament.

He also won the 7th annual Hilo Invitational at Hilo Municipal last month, shooting a 7-under-par 135 and becoming the first amateur to win the tournament.

But all of his golf success might not have happened if it wasn't for a decision Mason made before his father was transferred to Schofield Barracks. Forgoing baseball and focusing solely on golf, Mason said he didn't make many friends or participate in extracurricular activities as a senior at Leilehua.

"That's what I needed to do to play college golf," he said. "The baseball coach at Leilehua almost convinced me, but I couldn't do it, I couldn't say yes.

"It ended up being the best thing for me."

Mason finished third in the state high school championships and began playing in local tournaments. He finished second in the World Junior Masters championship for 16- to 18-year-olds at Mililani Golf Club in 2001.

One aspect of baseball stayed with him. Mason, who has never had a golf lesson, said his golf swing is basically the same as his swing in baseball, except for the weight transfer.

"I have what you call a homemade swing," he said. "I got a swing in golf I could get by in. I've had no change since the first swing I came out with in golf."