Golf world beware: Andy DeKeuster cannot be stopped.
Despite going mostly unrecruited out of high school, the junior has, in just more than 24 months, gone from ordinary student, to varsity walk-on, to Wildcats golfing sensation.
So what’s most amazing about this unlikely tale? In his first year at Northwestern, DeKeuster hardly touched a club.
“It was like a crack addict not getting his dose,” DeKeuster said. “It was tough, just becoming a regular student … I just went to class, went back to the dorm room, played some video games, watched a movie, did as little homework as possible (and) tried not to freak out about things.”
DeKeuster kept in contact with coach Pat Goss throughout his freshman year, hoping his persistence would lead to a shot at making the team.
The following summer, he took the coach’s advice and played in local tournaments, trying to regain a competitive mindset.
Then came the fateful evening in early September when DeKeuster, sitting at home in Franksville, Wis., got the call he’d been waiting for: Get to Evanston. Your physical’s at 8 a.m.
So he threw some things in the car and took off. One sleepless night later, DeKeuster was a varsity golfer. After a year of “pestering” Goss for a chance, he had made it.
“We get all our golf bags and our golf balls, our shoes, and it was like Christmas,” DeKeuster said with a giant grin. “It was awesome … I just kind of asked, ‘How much do I owe you for this?'”
At last a part of the team he wanted so badly to make, DeKeuster now found himself surrounded by some of the best golfers in the Big Ten.
But while his teammates and the coaching staff all welcomed him to the team, DeKeuster began to bury himself in pressure.
Though his golf improved as the year progressed, he was never quite good enough to play in a tournament. His fellow Cats tried to encourage him, jokingly remarking, “See? You are a good golfer,” after he’d hit a good shot or fire a good round. But throughout his sophomore year, DeKeuster never really got comfortable.
“I was pretty intimidated, I’m not going to lie,” DeKeuster said. “All these guys are heavily recruited, and here I am, the lonely little walk-on, getting that stigma of just sitting in the corner … I just had to start believing in myself, but in the beginning, I really didn’t.”
All of that began to change this past summer, when DeKeuster finally convinced himself that, walk-on or not, he was good enough to play with anyone. He arrived in Evanston shooting the best golf of his life, and the results soon showed.
DeKeuster qualified for his first tournament – the Olympia Fields Illini Invitational – at the end of September and wound up tying for first on the team, 21st overall. The next week he further solidified his place on the squad with a 16th-place finish in the Cats’ victory at the Windon Memorial Classic.
According to their coach, DeKeuster’s teammates are thrilled with his success. And though Goss is delighted as well, the Golf Magazine Top-100 Teacher believes that DeKeuster has yet to reach his full potential.
“The one thing that’s most different about Andy than any other kid of my team is that he’s the most well-rounded person, almost to a golfing fault,” Goss said. “Especially coming to school with defined other interests.”
It’s inarguably true that in taking on the latter half of the student-athlete title, the journalism major underwent a massive lifestyle change from freshman to sophomore year. His regular activities went from “going to the dining hall and just eating and eating,” and IM sports (which “just didn’t fill the void”), to 6 a.m. workouts and eight-hour practices with the golf team. Things only got crazier this fall, when he started playing in tournaments and skipping town for the weekends.
Gone are the lazy days and the party scene, but that’s alright with DeKeuster. As long as he keeps playing good golf, it’s all worth it.
Not that he’s ready to think of himself as an “athlete,” per se. He still hesitates when it comes to wearing his team-issued gray NU sweats, and he cringes at the notion of becoming immodest.
That’s just fine with Goss, who said the best thing DeKeuster has going for him may be that he doesn’t recognize his own ability.
“I just think Andy’s this small-town kid from Franksville, Wisconsin, who has no idea how good he is,” Goss said. “The other kids would tell me all the time, ‘Coach, Andy’s so good.’ And I think he’s still only part of the way there.”
Reach Ben Larrison at [email protected].
