In an effort to build up one of the freshman on his squad, St. John’s head coach Phil Wildermuth dropped to Frank Wu earlier in the season a phrase he thought might be a throwaway line – albeit an earnest one.
When Wu has struggled this season, St. John’s has not performed well as a team. So, Wildermuth told the first-year that that makes him the spark plug – a great position to be in as a freshman. Wu accepted that and it clearly resonated because he reminded his coach of the phrase after posting a bogey-free, second-round 66 to lead the team at the Golfweek/Stifl Spring Challenge.
“He brought up to me, ‘I’m the spark plug, Coach,’” Wildermuth said. “I was surprised he remembered that conversation. It was really cool.”
Wu’s spark is about more than scoring, Wildermuth said.
“When he’s playing well, he’s got this extra, extra energy about him in his walk, in his talk, in his attitude,” Wildermuth said. “It really filters throughout the team.”
In Wednesday’s final round of the Golfweek/Stifel event, Wu led the Red Storm from the No. 5 spot. His 7-under total included closing rounds of 66 and 67. With Wu dropping birdies at True Blue Golf Club in Pawley’s Island, South Carolina, St. John’s won the tournament by five shots with its 23-under total, the team’s lowest 54-hole score in three years.
Scores: Golfweek/Stifel Spring Challenge
St. John’s finished five shots ahead of Connecticut in second place with Jacksonville State in third place another three shots back. Jacksonville State’s Ryley Heath won the individual title at 13 under, edging his teammate Ben Shedd by two shots.
At one point early in the final round at True Blue, seven teams were within nine shots of the lead. St. John’s had earned its spot in that horserace with a round of 13 under on Day 2.
While at a southern-style buffet joint for dinner after that performance, Wildermuth was a little surprised the meal passed without a single mention of golf – the day, the round, the team’s position.
“I just kind of let the golf talk pass, we didn’t talk golf last night,” he said. “So this morning, I kind of talked about taking it one hole at a time, just like what we’ve been talking about all year.”
Wildermuth is a fan of David Goggins, the author and motivational speaker, so he framed his pregame speech on Wednesday morning around Goggins’ popular refrain of, “Who’s going to carry the boats?” It’s a phrase from Goggins’ Navy SEAL training that references shared perseverance in tough times.
“My theory was let’s burn the boats so there’s no retreat,” Wildermuth said. “We have to go in and keep fighting.”
Wildermuth doesn’t have an assistant this season, and the sheer logistics of that doesn’t allow for a lot of facetime with his players on the course during a round. He has spent the season stressing individual responsibility for that reason. St. John’s went into True Blue – a risk-reward course – with a careful eye on the closing stretch of Nos. 16-18. That was where the Red Storm turned it around on opening day and Wildermuth believes ...
