Determined. Tenacious. High-caliber. All-American. Friend.
All words used by teammates Andy DeKeuster, Eric Chun, Jonathan Bowers and coach Pat Goss to describe this week’s Big Ten Golfer of the Week, junior David Lipsky.
“You can never quit,” Lipsky said. “You always have to be working on your game. You can never take a long break. You always have to be conscious of what you’re doing. You can never just be mindless.”
Lipsky is the first Northwestern golfer to receive the Big Ten Golfer of the Week honor since 2006. He was honored after leading the Wildcats to a sixth place finish and achieving an individual seventh place at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic earlier this week.
After a slow start during the third round at the event, Lipsky was able to push through the last 15 holes for a tournament total 2-under 208 (70-67-71).
If Lipsky has a weakness, it’s that sometimes that push is too much.
“He has a tendency of not letting things just happen,” Goss said. “He can press too hard. He was in a bit of a rut the past two events, but he’s out now and ready to play.”
At the FAU Spring Break Championship, Lipsky finished a disappointing 52nd with a 12-over 225.
Because of the tendency to force his play, Lipsky’s mantra for the rest of the season is to care less about the results of the hole and more about the process. This means focusing on what needs to be done for each individual shot.
“I’ve been trying to improve my short game and putting so that, if I do have a bad start, hopefully that can save me,” Lipsky said.
As a result, the junior’s mental preparation is his main focus at this point in his collegiate career.
“I’ve put in the time practicing,” he said. “You can only get so good without that focus. I talk with my teammates and my coach about how to think and how to process those thoughts. I try to put myself in a frame of mind that lets me play my best.”
Lipsky and the Cats head to Columbus, Ohio this weekend for the Kepler Intercollegiate, an event they finished fifth in last year.
The team hopes to end its streak of final-round breakdowns this weekend, competing against 13 teams, including conference opponents Minnesota, Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State and Wisconsin.Lipsky’s personal goal for the remainder of the season is to win every tournament individually and as a team.
The key to achieving this goal is for the team to be confident in its skill level.
“Realistically, we have a squad that can do that,” Lipsky said. “We just need to be confident in how good we are and how good our game is. When that realization hits, we can do anything we want.”
