Now on the Tee… The Lutes
I figured I better introduce y’all to the PLU Men’s (Yes, we are men technically) Golf Team.
Starting on the left, is our head coach Kris Swanson. As I called him in my first post, I think of him more as a Sage or Guru. Swanny, as I refer to him as when he lets me, attended with the intention of playing golf for Washington State University and quickly transferred to Saint Martin’s University in Olympia for athletic and self care reasons I am guessing, Pullman is essentially Hell on earth. At SMU, he played in the first ever DII national championship. After school, he was worn many hats. The hat he has worn the longest is his PGA teaching professional hat. I can say without a doubt that he has turned me into a much better golfer and person. When you are a pupil of Coach Swanson, you are not mentored on just golf, but life as well. In almost all cases, they run parallel but that is a post for another day. He really is a sage, with lots of hats.
Jumping over to the extreme right of the photo, not politically, we have our assistant coach Auston Hilkin. A PLU golf alumni, he is Swanny’s personal assistant to carry and manage all those hats he wears. He also serves the role of who I talk to when everyone else is tired of me and my behavior. He’s a good dude and I love spending time with him on trips/at tournaments.
Then there is the squad. From right to left we have: Kyle, Mitchell, Mitchell (Dover, Dove, Love Dove, Doctor, or Ben,we call him), Me :), Alex, Ryan (Sturdy, Turdy, Dirty Sturdy, or Giggity, we call him), and Ryan (Hally, we call him). I must note that Hally (sophomore) is no longer enrolled at PLU, he transferred after fall semester to WSU Vancouver. He is still part of the team, regardless.
The other Ryan (sophomore), Sturdy, was a basketball player in high school. His claim to fame was his ESPN Top 10 play when he made two half court shots in a high school game; one at the end of the first half and one to WIN THE GAME. It was the number one play of the week and knocked off Odell Beckham Jr’s famous one handed catch as the running “Best of the best” play. He still slays in Intramural basketball for our team “Hole and One”, a name coined by him in an Instagram post about his hole-in-one at the Whitworth Invitational last semester. He had (to quote him) ‘literally no idea how to spell it, I’ve never had to spell it before’, so his post read: “My first hole and one baby!! GO LUTES!”. That’s Sturdy in a nutshell.
Next to Sturdy, is Alex (Freshman). Alex is the realest athlete on the team. He played baseball for the US in the Dominican Republic, he was really good. Alex is also the most calm, chill dude in the world. He is a very calming and relaxing person to be around, his nickname should be The Dude. The Alex Abides.
The other freshman on the team is (Mitchell) Dover. Alex and Dover went to high school together, both playing on the golf team at Mount Si HS. Because of this, I think Dover has picked up The Dude-like calmness of Alex. He is also very calm, easy breezy, loosey goosey. Dover and I are essentially the same person. We have a ton in common, it is shocking. I am not going to get too into it, but we make a lot of WWE wrestling references that the other guys are bewildered by.
Finally, there is Mitchell and Kyle, junior and senior respectively. They are not only my teammates but my housemates (our house is fittingly named The 19th Hole or the Golf House). Mitchell is the most fashionable member of the team. His clothes, shoes, and definitely his hair are on par with that of Justin Bieber. That is a big compliment, trust me. He was a very quiet freshman and a really good player and now he has come out of his shell and still kicks everyone’s ass at golf. Mitchell hits the ball a country mile, it’s fun to watch. Kyle is what I can only describe as Swanny Jr. When I say that Coach is the golf Buddha, Kyle is his most loyal follower. Because of that, I can tell you that Kyle has also taught me a lot about golf and about life. After this year, Kyle will pursue being a PGA teaching professional, just like Coach. It is our goal to make it that Kyle and Coach Swanson have another similarity: that they both played in a national championship in college.
So, there you have it. My coaches and my teammates. This weekend, we have our last three qualifiers before our first tournament of the season, the UPS Invitational. It is an important event as it is held at Gold Mountain GC, where the NWC Spring Classic will also be played. This Saturday, we are playing at The Home Course in Dupont. Sunday will be 36 holes at Gold Mountain yaaaaayyyy.
