December 18, 2014

 

 

The thrill of the chase will always be a part of Jordan Lu’s golf story.

 

The Vancouver teenager had to chase down Burnaby’s Michael Belle at the British Columbia Amateur last July and after a closing hole birdie drew him even with Belle, it would take five playoff holes before Lu was victorious, taking home the Bostock Trophy and the 112th British Columbia Amateur title.

 

“[Winning] makes me feel that my game has gotten a lot better. Last year I came in tied at 22nd in the BC Amateur,” said Lu after receiving his trophy.

Lu started the day well behind Belle, but with a steely focus on his own game, he was able to chase down the Burnaby native.

“At the start of the day I thought I’m four strokes back, I’m just going to focus on what I can do and just hit fairways and greens and hopefully make birdie. I made some birdies, he made some mistakes and then we were in a playoff and it was just focus on the next shot.” said Lu.

“It was the highlight of my year. When I looked at the trophy, I saw the names of all the great legends who had won as well and it felt pretty good.”

Lu comes from Taiwan, where both his parents are professors. With an older sister already enrolled at UBC, the Prince of Wales graduate felt the pull of staying closer to home, but chasing his golf dreams have him going to school at the golf factory 150 miles to the south, at the University of Washington.

The school which has taken BC golf products like Nick Taylor, James Lepp, Gordy Scutt and Kevin Spooner and shown them what it takes to succeed at golf came to Lu with anoffer he couldn’t refuse.

Huskies head coach Matt Thurmond had nothing but good things to say about his newest recruit. "Jordan is an excellent ball striker with a good all-around game,” said Thurmond.

image credit morgan gibbens

Jordan Lu Demonstrates His Deft Short Game En Route To Winning The 112th B.C. Men's Amateur In 2014

“He is committed to being great and plays with a quiet confidence and presence. He works hard. Jordan comes from Taiwan originally and we hope he will continue in the footsteps of his countryman, Cheng-Tsung Pan."

“It is with great pleasure that I sign with the University of Washington,” said Lu. “The opportunity to represent The University of Washington has given me a great sense of accomplishment, which will undoubtedly lead to great things for the future. I look forward to being a part of the rich golf history and tradition.”

Lu, who took three courses in his first term and has earned a respectable 3.2 GPA, has enjoyed his freshman year, living on campus and attending several Huskies football and volleyball games.

Thurmond came away impressed with Lu’s resume, which includes a long series of top finishes. Lu won back-to-back British Columbia AAA High School titles, in 2013 and 2014, the first high schooler to do so since Brent Franklin in 1983-84.

The 2014 championship in Squamish was a tour de force for Lu, as he finished (-14) for the tournament, including rounds of 63 and 67 that helped his Prince of Wales squad win the team championship by 20 strokes.

“I had played Squamish before and I just really liked the way it set up for my game,” said Lu. “I think I was most happy with how our team did because the year before, we didn’t do so well as a team and it was a goal of ours to win the team title.”

He finished tied for second at the 2013 B.C. Junior Championship, finishing (-11) for four rounds. Lu tied for third at the 2012 Boys’ Junior America’s Cup, leading B.C. to a second-place finish as a team.

Lu also finished sixth at the Callaway Junior World Championship, won the 2011 Canadian Nike Invitational and qualified for both the 2012 U.S. Junior Amateur and the 2013 Canadian Amateur.

Lu’s collegiate career at Washington has gotten off to a solid start in 2014, as he has played in three tournaments so far, including being part of the UW team which finished T7 at the US Collegiate Championships in Alpharetta, Georgia in October.

Lu has had moments of brilliance while wearing Husky purple, including a final round (-3) 69 at the Husky Invitational in Bremerton, Washington which moved him into a T27 individual finish in his maiden collegiate tournament.

At his next start, across Washington State in Pullman, Lu finished T62. In Georgia, Lu struggled with opening and final round (+6) rounds of 78, but he had a (-3) round of 69 in the second round to finish T62 in the individual standings.

“The thing I noticed about college golf is that the courses play a lot harder than in junior golf,” said Lu. “The holes are much longer, the pin locations are a lot tougher. You don’t reach many par-5s in two. You have to make good shots all the time. I’m also trying to get used to a new environment, new people and new courses.”

Lu also credited Thurmond with working on his mental game. “He wants us to think about our games and he has us doing a lot of different things on the course that I hadn’t done before,” said Lu.

Lu, who works with Todd Kuspira, teaching professional at Marine Drive, when he’s back in Vancouver, said he needs to continue working on his short game and he takes prides in his strengths, notably his pinpoint iron game and his long and straight driver.

“I’m still trying to focus on getting more experience playing college golf,” said Lu of his 2015 goals. “I still need time to adjust to the college game, so it’s about working hard on my game and trying to qualify for the team at each tournament.”

Lu and the Huskies won’t play again until Feb. 5, when they’re on the Big Island of Hawaii for their first tournament of 2015.