Let it be known, Pacific University junior golfer Max Bonk is a scientist, not a farmer. He grew up in Hawaii. He doesn’t own a tractor. He calculates, analyzes and experiments. He does not enjoy wading through knee-deep grass in an open field.
Very few golfers do. They feel uncomfortable. And it’s not just the hay fever.
Now, from someone who spends most of every trip to the golf course in the tall grass, I can obviously relate. It’s itchy. You sneeze a lot. And you can spend more time looking for your ball than actually playing it. But it’s not all bad. As long as I have a spare in my pocket, it’s a great luxury to be able to find my ball 50 yards closer to the pin. Oh, HERE it is!
In reality, Bonk and I have very little in common. He is a top-ranked college golfer, fresh off a 20th-place finish at the 2010 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships. He doesn’t get to carry a “foot wedge” in his golf bag.
It’s too bad, because he could have used it on the 501-yard, par-5 18th hole at the Hershey Links Golf Course in Hershey, Penn., last Friday. With a chance to move into a tie for 13th place on the final hole of the tournament, Bonk realized that he, too, was not a fan of tall grass.
“That stuff cost me on the last hole,” said Bonk, who finished the four-day tournament in 20th place, an eight-spot jump from his 2008 performance. “I ended up in the tall grass, like knee-high, and when I swung down on the ball the grass exaggerated my club face and shot it back and stayed in, so I went 500 yards to the green in it.”
For a moment I felt like I could relate. I wanted to interject with a similar story, but then it all turned back to Greek.
“On the shot, I’m trying to get down as quick as I can, and get the ball up as quick as I can. So I’m trying to come straight down on it and lift it out.”
Bonk was talking so far over my head I was drowning in my own ignorance. This is why he returned to the national championship stage after a one-year hiatus – the kid’s got golf smarts. Of course, in order to be invited, Bonk needed to be one of the top five individual players in the country. He was surprised to get the call this season after being snubbed the year before, when he was hampered by Pacific’s low conference rank.
“This year I was more consistent,” he said. “But my scores weren’t as low and I didn’t have as many wins as last year.”
Bonk thinks it’s more than just what’s on the surface.
“Politics,” he said.
Politics? In college athletics? Get outta here!
Bonk continued: “Last year there wasn’t anyone pulling for me on the committee. I think that is the main reason I didn’t get in. This year the Whitworth coach was on the committee and he told me he was going to pull for me.”
Warren Friedrichs, who coaches Whitworth’s Northwest Conference championship-winning men’s and women’s golf squads, had the opportunity to watch Bonk all season long in conference play. To assure himself a spot in the tournament next season, Bonk needs two things to happen – continued success on the links and a coach, like Friedrichs, that is willing to vouch for his skills on the committee.
“[Friedrichs] is going to be on the committee next year too, so that’s good,” Bonk said. “And the goal is to keep getting better with lower overall numbers. If I could average under par that would be ideal. Obviously you want to have some really low scores, like 65, because eventually you are going to have your bad days, like a 75.”
In the meantime, the junior Environmental Studies major is getting ready to head to Belize to study environmental tropical biology. He’ll spend 10 days learning how the culture affects the tropical ecology.
A long way from the tall grass — sort of.
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