Written by Emma Weber // Graphic by Ben Evans
A Harding golf team will represent seven different countries during the 2023-24 season.
The men’s team includes players from Guatemala, Spain, England, Sweden, Germany, Bulgaria and the United States. Travis Lauterbach, head men’s and women’s golf coach, said he enjoys the energy this diversity brings.
“That’s the nice thing, everyone has a certain enthusiasm for the game of golf – obviously if they’ve come this far they’re pretty serious about their game – and they’re going to bring a certain energy because they want to get better,” Lauterbach said.
Junior Wilmer Haakansson is from Stockholm, Sweden, and said as an individual and team member, he has appreciated the atmosphere created by the dynamic environment.
“Competition is arguably higher than ever in program history, but we stay humble and are happy for each other’s successes,” Haakansson said. “Just because most of us are from far away, the overall ambition and seriousness in the team is severe. You don’t move across land and ocean to go to school, especially not when the similar alternative back home is free of tuition, if you’re not serious about performing and making the most out of it.”
The team’s dedication to perfecting their craft does not stop them from having fun times as well. Lauterbach said the different cultural backgrounds contribute to the team learning from and having fun with one another, a sentiment shared by Haakansson.
“It’s easy to have fun when we’re all from different places,” Haakansson said. “We can joke about what things are like back home, and people are usually baffled by something that’s different compared to what they are brought up with. We also tend to learn a few words here and there in someone else’s native tongue.”
Junior Finlay Cummings is from Bedford, England, and said his experience with the team is a positive one.
“It is fun and exciting to hear about the other guys on the team’s stories about where they play back home and what the courses are like there,” Cummings said. “I learn skills from my teammates, as we are always talking about the game together, and this really allows us to bounce ideas off each other and get better as a collective and not just individually. I feel this is enhanced by the global team we have.”
The team started the season with several high-placing tournaments, the most notable of which was a runner-up finish at the Northeastern State University (NSU) classic Sept. 19, where they finished two strokes under NSU.
The team’s next tournament, the NCAA Preview, starts Oct. 16 at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Harding will conclude their fall season the following weekend at the DBU Classic hosted by Dallas Baptist University.
