Andrew De Decker's golf with hippo and lion in Africa

When I think of my favorite golf moments ever, many come to mind. Victories, eagles, my lone hole-in-one – they all make the list. However, a few years back in the northern region of South Africa, I experienced something that not many people can relate to.

I was on vacation with the family visiting the Kruger National Park, a world-renowned game reserve. Just south of the boundary fence is the Hans Merensky Golf Course, which is where I teed it up that day. The special thing about this golf course is that it is in no way fenced off from the surrounding wildlife. Cats, crocodiles, boars; they all roam the fairways. Naturally this poses a safety threat, but only very recently was the first fatality recorded. Just like marshals ride around the local courses asking people to speed up play, rangers patrol the premises with high-powered rifles.

I got to the 17^th hole, a long par three over water. The green ahead still had to clear, and I needed a way to pass the time. A few yards short of the green in the dam a hippo was visible, and of course one thing led to another and I found myself with a pitching wedge in hand, a scuffed Titleist on the ground and trying to accurately gauge the distance to the wallowing giant. I guessed correctly. A beautiful high draw landed with a resounding thud on the beast’s head, sending it whooshing underwater. My first hippo-in-one was accompanied by shrieks of surprise from the German tourists putting out, completely oblivious to what had just happened. In all it was a weirdly amusing and enjoyable moment.

The 18^th hole didn’t fall short in the entertainment category either. After tapping in for par on the previous hole and launching a drive down the final fairway, I began walking towards my ball. A hundred yards or so short of where it lay, a ranger drove up to me and told me to stop walking. Confused, I began asking him why but stopped quickly enough when I saw what was happening up ahead. A lion had emerged from the adjacent bushes, and it was dragging a baby antelope in its jaws. Clearly not in any rush to get out of the way, it dropped the kill down in the semi-rough and began eating away. After taking a few moments to absorb the reality of what I was witnessing, and fearful of fetching my ball let alone playing my approach shot, I got a ride back to the clubhouse.

I gave myself par.

Andre DeDecker, junior from Cape Town, South Africa

Go Card!

Wilson Bowen on Sandy Tatum and alumni support

Last month, my teammates and I had the opportunity to attend the annual Men’s Club dinner at the Stanford Faculty Club. The official speaker for the evening was Sandy Tatum (Stanford Hall of Famer), and it was a true privilege to hear Mr. Tatum detail many of his wonderful experiences with the game of golf. 

Mr. Tatum epitomizes the tradition of Stanford Golf. NCAA Champion, Rhodes Scholar, and USGA President are just a few of his numerous accomplishments. Most inspiring though, are his tremendous efforts in the city of San Francisco and with the First Tee Organization to improve the lives of others through the game of golf.  His achievements are nothing short of remarkable.

I had the honor to play golf with Mr. Tatum at Stanford last spring. I’ll always remember the 220-yard 3-wood that he hit onto the 18^th green.

Opportunities like these make the Stanford Golf experience so unique. It is rare in college golf to find such a strong alumni community, and our yearly invitation to the Men’s Club dinner is just another example of the incredible support our team receives.  These alumni interactions ensure that Stanford Golf continues the tradition of excellence.

We’re primed to have an outstanding season this spring. 

Wilson Bowen

Senior from Winnetka, IL 

Go Card! 

Shane Lebow on balancing academics and athletics at Stanford

Sports analysts and other top ranked schools have long commented that it is simply impossible to achieve academic and athletic excellence simultaneously. With now 17 Director’s Cups, and working towards 18 our athletic program has proved this assumption wrong 17 times. I am not writing to brag about accomplishments, rather to share my observations on what I have learned through being part of such an esteemed institution.

            Having completed four quarters here on “The Farm,” I am beginning to figure this place out. Those who are successful at Stanford are able to thrive in the face of challenges. While this applies generally to success in life, Stanford certainly demands this of their student-athletes. It is a reflection of the culture and standard that coaches, teammates, and alumni have developed within the athletic department and individual teams.

            Stanford is able to attract Olympic athletes and national standouts year after year. Not only do athletes turn down easier academic options, they also choose difficult majors while here. Other universities often recruit athletes with the idea that a lesser academic load will help them better integrate into the professional athletic ranks. However, in the last year I have come to the exact opposite conclusion. I believe the ability to handle the bilateral commitment to athletics and academics has been the very reason why Stanford has produced dominant professional athletes like John Elway, Kerri Walsh, John McEnroe, and Tom Watson.

            The balance of academics and athletics forces students to be disciplined in handling their performances. On almost every team there are examples of individuals like Toby Gerhart. As many know Gerhart, now on the Minnesota Vikings, was a two-sport athlete who finished 2^nd in Heisman voting in 2009 while taking 21 academic units (6 more than the average of 15 per quarter). Being surrounded by an athletic program comprised of such excellence and determination has had a profound effect on me. It has lead me develop time management skills and maturity that I don’t think I would have developed anywhere else.

            Stanford Golf and more broadly, Stanford University is something that is truly special. It has already given me growth and learning opportunities that I will find valuable long after graduation. Coming off a hard academic week with finals, I can’t wait to get back to a full practice schedule. We have a great group of guys this year and saw improvements throughout practices and workouts during the fall quarter.

Looking forward to Spring Season and finding some W’s!

Go Cardinal!

Shane Lebow

Article about Marcel Puyat in MyDesert.com

Here's a recent article about freshman Marcel Puyat's expérience in his few weeks at Stanford.  The article is written by mydesert.com, with the local connection that Marcel played his senior year at a high school in La Quinta, CA.

Click on the image to enlarge the article.

Click to enlarge article

Video interviews of the 3 Stanford freshmen, Patrick Grimes, Patrick Rodgers and Marcel Puyat

Meet the 2011-12 Stanford golf team freshmen in these three video interviews of Patrick Grimes, Patrick Rodgers and Marcel Puyat.  The interviews were conducted at the Seibel Varsity Training Center late in September 2011 during their first week of classes at Stanford.

Larger versions of these interviews can be found at their individual web pages :  Patrick Grimes, Patrick Rodgers and Marcel Puyat.

Patrick Grimes

Patrick Rodgers 

Marcel Puyat

Patrick Rodgers reflects on his first collegiate win at Olympia Fields

Stanford, Calif. - Freshman Patrick Rodgers won the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational last week, carding rounds of 68-70-68 (206, -4). Rodgers met the team in Illinois after returning from Aberdeen, Scotland, where he competed in the Walker Cup. 

He became the first Cardinal golfer to win his first collegiate tournament since Tiger Woods accomplished the feat 17 years ago.

Battling rainy weather on the final day, Rodgers made two birdies and had no bogeys to win the tournament by three strokes. He led Stanford to a 16-stroke victory over an impressive field that included 10 Top-25 teams.

You only had a few days between the Walker Cup and the tournament.  How did you prepare for your first college competition?

"It was pretty hectic.  Chicago isn't too far from my hometown (Avon, Ind.), so I flew home, got my game ready to start college golf and went up and met the team.  In my mind they were two totally different events.  The Walker Cup is one of the highest honors you can receive in amateur golf and to be a part of that team was really special.  It was a long and emotionally draining week because you put so much into the competition; you're playing before 8,000 people and they're all rooting against you.  On the flight home I had time to reflect and re-focus and I was ready to get to school and start college golf.  After the Walker Cup I knew I could compete in college golf and I just focused on playing well at Olympia Fields." 

The last Cardinal golfer to win their first event was Tiger Woods.  What was it like joining that club?

"Any time you're compared with him in golf it's a good thing.  It's a big accomplishment, but I feel that college golf is more of a team event.  The goal is to win as many events as we can as a team so to start off with a 16-shot win as a team is pretty good and I'm just happy that I could help the team do that."

You met a lot of your teammates for the first time at the tournament.  How did they welcome you into the group? 

"I met a few of the guys on my visits and we had a great experience at the tournament.  Everybody's happy that we won and that lightens the mood a lot.  The freshmen are going through the normal stuff, having to carry the bags and all that.  Maybe my performance puts a little target on my back for some of the upperclassmen that didn't like me beating them but I'm sure they'll use that as motivation.  I know that they'll get their fair share of wins this season later in the year, we have a lot of great players on our team."

You shot a final-round 68 in the rain.  How were you able to accomplish that?

"It was a good steady round.  I made a lot of pars and I missed a few birdie opportunities early but I made a few coming in.  Something I took from that round and the tournament was that I could win without playing my best golf.  Coming off the Walker Cup I didn't have my `A' game and I didn't have much time to prepare.  I was really proud of the way I was able to scrap it around and score my golf ball without hitting it great.  I struggled off the tee all week and I was able to manufacture some shots and score and play consistently.  I only hit about 35 percent of the fairways and I had four bogeys for the week so I can take a lot of positives from that.  I realized that I can compete and win at this level without having my best stuff."

Why did you choose Stanford?

"Why not?  It's an awesome place, perfect weather, great academics, great coaches and first-class facilities.  It was a win-win situation for me. I'm excited to be here."

Here's a link to the GoStanford.com article.

Team answers the last question on surprises at Stanford outside of golf

This is the last of 7 questions asked each of the Stanford men's golf team a few months ago.

7.  Outside of golf, any surprises for you this year at Stanford?

Living in an apartment and having to supply yourself food is rough. Especially if your only cooking skill is scrambling eggs. 

David Chung

Surprised that Stanford football did as well as they did this year

Sihwan Kim

Looking back, freshman year was a breeze compared to this year. Surprised by just how important time management really is, and making every minute count with regard to being productive.

Andre De Decker

Surprised how quickly the time at Stanford goes by.

Wilson David Bowen

Everything's pretty close to what I expected. But I can't believe how well players are treated at the tournaments!

Cameron Andrew Wilson

Football! It shouldn't be a surprise because we know we were capable of doing this, but to actually pull it off and end the regular season at #4 was on nobody's radar. It is awesome to see Stanford playing in a BCS bowl for the first time in awhile.

Andrew Yun

I have been surprised at how fast the year has seemed to progress.  Everybody always talks about how fast the time in college seems to go by, but I guess it is hard to understand until you actually experience it yourself.  With one quarter of my senior year completed, my classmates and I have just two quarters left before graduation.  I expect it to be bitter-sweet.  It will be sweet in the sense that all of our hard work the past four years will pay off.  However, it will be bitter to leave a place as great as Stanford.

Graham Brockington

A somewhat suspected but nonetheless awesome surprise this year has been our team being closer off the course than I’ve seen it before.  This may just be a feeling of senior nostalgia setting in, though I’m pretty sure there is a noteworthy trend that has begun similar to the two previous national championship teams.  We communicate differently this year, in a better was; I think nothing but awesome thoughts when picturing what our program will do this spring and in years to come.

Steve Ziegler

Everyone is so happy to be here, it is amazing the energy around campus. 

Shane Lebow

The football team's success was awesome to watch this year. I actually got introduced to Andrew Luck by one of my fraternity brothers at a party this year. It was pretty cool and he seems like a really nice guy.

Steven Jeffrey Kearney