Coming out swinging strong
Even after freshman success, sophomore Laura Luethke won't stop reaching for the top
Ryan Tubonganua / The Collegian
Success is nothing new for sophomore Laura Luethke. Last year, Luethke won three tournament titles, was ranked as high as sixth in the nation and was named WAC freshman of the year and looks to surpass those accomplishments this season. |
By Doug Sulenta
The Collegian
After a wildly successful freshman season that included three tournament victories, top-10 finishes in 10 of 13 events and a selection to the All-Western Athletic Conference team, Laura Luethke is poised to take the WAC and maybe the nation, by storm.
By winning three tournaments including her first two of the season, Luethke exceeded nearly every expectation placed upon her. Even her own.
“I surpassed most of my goals for last season. It was my goal to win two tournaments and I ended up winning three,” Luethke said. “I didn’t know what to expect from college golf, but I knew it was going to be tougher than junior golf. I just wanted to improve and play well, and my game really stepped up.”
Step up she did. Luethke who had the lowest scoring average on the team at 73.5, was the WAC freshman of the year and was named the team’s most valuable player.
Her father, Ed, who is the head pro at Riverside Golf Course and her personal swing trainer, was also happy with the season she had.
“I think she did great last year. For a freshman I think she went into it without too many expectations for the fall,” Ed said. “She won her first two tournaments and had some second place finishes in some good tournaments.”
Head coach Angie Cates was impressed by the way Luethke came right into the first tournament of the season with the ability and confidence to win.
“The fall season she started out gunning for every title and won three of her first four tournaments and the fourth tournament was a second place finish,” Cates said, stressing how great an accomplishment it was to win even one of these tournaments, considering there are at least a hundred girls vying for the title at each competition.
“I knew she would win, I just didn’t know she would win that often and that soon,” Cates said. “ The start to her collegiate career was a huge statement.”
After the success of her first season, Luethke is not ready to sit around hoping her skills improve over the off-season. During the summer, she took a short break, saying she might have been a little burnt out, but then got right back to work.
“I was really concerned with hitting the ball farther, so I started working out a little bit harder, but mostly I just needed to work on basic stuff like short game and swing mechanics,” Luethke said. “I just want to commit myself to each practice session and trying to improve my game, even when I am playing well.”
Cates said the work Laura puts into her game definitely rubs off on her teammates, and even though she may not take an active and vocal leadership role, her leading by example does have a positive affect on her team.
“Laura is hands down our hardest worker. You have to drag her off the golf course kicking and screaming. She would sleep there if she could,” Cates said. “The other girls see how hard she works and how she carries herself on the golf course and the composure she has. They really respect her and watch everything she does.”
Although the beginning of the season was successful beyond anybody’s expectations, the grind of playing an entire college season was the most difficult thing for Luethke to conquer. Playing a tournament a week and keeping up with the constant travel schedule as opposed to playing primarily local events in high school, proved to be a daunting task.
“The difficult part is if you miss school, you have to catch up,” Luethke said. “We leave on Saturday and get back on Tuesday night, and when you do that two weeks in a row and you only have three or four days in town is when it really starts to wear on you,”
This year, Luethke would like to keep things in perspective. Rather than making unrealistic goals she isn’t likely to reach, she is shooting for goals within her grasp.
“I want to win three tournaments this year and improve my scoring average,” Luethke said. “I want to hit more fairways this year and I want my putts per green to be lower.”
Luethke’s goals are likely to be met, considering she led the nation in fewest putts per green in regulation last season.
Cates too is optimistic about the season to come.
“She’s going to win more tournaments this year. Our schedule is tougher, but I know she’s going to rise to the challenge,” Cates said. “Her whole college career is going to be good.”
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