They Came From Afar

For the three Louisiana Tech seniors headed to the NCAA Golf Regionals in Tucson, Arizona this weekend, traveling from the piney woods of North Louisiana to the southwestern Arizona desert will seem like a short jaunt compared to what it has taken them to reach Ruston.

It’s not as if Louisiana Tech is impossible to get to. Located along Interstate 20, the University is approximately 35 miles from the Monroe Airport and 72 miles from the Shreveport Airport.

But this senior class that his heading to the NCAA Regionals – Victor Lange, Ben Robinson and Chuck Spears – have traveled from far and wide with one goal at the forefront of their minds: to make history.

Lange notably achieved that his sophomore year when he became the first Bulldog to receive a bid to compete at the NCAA Regionals, heading to the 2014 San Antonio Regional as an individual. He would finish in the top 25 at the event that year. Impressive for a young man who, less than two years prior, elected to sign with Louisiana Tech despite having never even crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

“When I first came to the United States my plane landed in New Orleans,” Lange recalled. “It was August and that is winter in South Africa, so I am wearing a coat and it was over 90 degrees outside.”

The journey was arduous for the South Africa native, with his typical travel path a 17-hour direct flight from Johannesburg to Atlanta before connecting to the hour-long flight to Monroe followed by a 30-minute drive to the idyllic campus in Ruston.

For Robinson, the travel was not only longer but also more daunting considering he tested out of high school in England at 16 years old and enrolled at Louisiana Tech.

“It usually takes me about 24 hours, door-to-door,” Robinson said of traveling from his home to campus. “I normally fly out of Manchester, which is about two-and-a-half hours away form home. I usually fly to Orlando, then to Atlanta and then on to Shreveport or Monroe. It is a long day.”

Lange and Robinson made their journeys to Ruston knowing that there was no turning back, at least for a while.

“I went home for Christmas my freshman year and my senior year and then every summer,” Robinson explained. “But I stayed over for Christmas my sophomore and junior years. It is not cheap to go back and forth. Plus the weather is not really good at home at Christmas so it is not that big of a deal.”

Lange, however, relished the chance to go home at Christmas and over the summer but this year opted to stay in America during the summer months which just so happened to be winter in South Africa.

“Last summer I didn’t go home, I just stayed over here, played some tournaments and traveled around America. It was an awesome time. So the last two times I went home were for Christmas the past two years. I guess you could say I only go home for the presents,” Lange said, laughing. “I’m just kidding.”

For the Chuck Spears, the journey to Ruston wasn’t so much about the distance as it was about making the right decision.

Spears’ hometown of Pineville is a mere 90-minute drive from Ruston. After being heavily recruited by Louisiana Tech in high school, LSU came in late his senior year and convinced Spears to head south to Baton Rouge. But bigger is not always better.

“After I left Baton Rouge, coming to Louisiana Tech was a no-brainer because I was going to come here in the first place,” recalled Spears. “I changed my mind at the last second in my senior year of high school. I don’t know what happened during the recruiting process with LSU, but they changed my mind to go there.”

When he realized Baton Rouge was not the place for him, there was only one place for Spears to go.

“I was not going to go anywhere else but here when I transferred from LSU,” Spears said. “Ruston is a smaller town and I am from a small town, so it is a little more comfortable for me. Obviously (former head coach Jeff) Parks was a really good friend and coach. When I transferred here, I had (former Bulldog golfer) Travis Wilmore here who is one of my best friends. And I met Victor and Ben when I got here and we formed a really good relationship.”

During their recruitment, Parks told the three that they had the chance to make history at Louisiana Tech. The season prior to Lange and Robinson’s arrival, Parks had the Bulldogs claiming its highest team ranking in school history at No. 70 entering the Western Athletic Conference Championships but fell short of receiving an at-large bid to the postseason. The former coach knew Tech was on the precipice.

But a strong senior class graduated and the two newcomers were young. Roster turnover and conference realignment brought new challenges. Louisiana Tech dropped to last place at the WAC Championships in 2013 then finished 12th (out of 14) at the 2014 Conference USA Championship before placing eighth at the 2015 C-USA Championship.

Ranked eighth heading into this year’s C-USA tournament, it all came together at the right time. Some may say the Bulldogs shocked the (golf) world – even Golfweek noted that Louisiana Tech “stole” an NCAA postseason bid – but the conference championship, while exciting, didn’t necessarily surprise the senior class.

“After my sophomore year, I knew Victor was an awesome player and I saw the potential in Ben,” Spears said. “I knew what I could do. And the guys coming in, I knew we could not go this whole year without doing something really good with the team we had. We were ranked over 120th the entire year. It did not make any sense because we were much better than that. We all kind of clicked at the same time. Making history here is something that we can all be pretty proud of. We had the team to do this and it feels good to actually do it.”

But while many around the University and its hometown of Ruston may consider that mission of making history seem accomplished, this group is not yet done. They still have one more chance to add to the history and record books when the Tucson Regional tees off Monday morning. And it is still just a starting point.

“I came here to make history,” Lange said. “It is extremely exciting. I am so happy that I can be part of this great program. I know with (current) coach Jenkins it will continue to improve over the next few years.”

Then comes the journey home. Lange is working towards obtaining his visa as he graduates next week. Spears is nearing graduation as well. Robinson still has two classes left, which will be completed online as he returns to his native England to pursue a professional golf career in Europe.

“I will head back (to England) the day after Tucson if we don’t advance to nationals,” Robinson explained. “I have kept the momentum going this week with my 68 at the U.S. Open qualifying the other day, with a practice round Monday and playing that Tuesday. I sold my car on Wednesday and studied for a few tests. I packed up all of my stuff Thursday and have a full day of practice Friday.”

The Bulldogs depart Saturday for Arizona and will play a round upon arrival to begin adjusting to the elevation (Tucson is located 2,388 feet above sea level compared to Ruston’s elevation of 331 feet). Then Sunday brings the official practice round at The Gallery Golf Club before Monday’s 8:15 a.m. PT/10:15 a.m. CT tee time.

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