Heuring places 65th at nationals over the weekend

Whether it be an academic club, social club or sports club, every organization should have a leader that embodies the values and ideals its members seeks to promote.

The Southeast Missouri State University Golf Club's founder and president, Shawn Heuring, has proven to be one of those leaders. He traveled to the National Collegiate Club Golf Association National Championship in New Jersey over the weekend, which was the second time Heuring has qualified for the tournament since he founded the club three years ago.

Heuring's passion for golf did not begin with the founding of the Southeast Golf Club, however. With a random gift from his parents, and the motivation of his godmother, Heuring first picked up golf at the age of 13.

"Just randomly my parents bought me a set of golf clubs. I grew up on a farm, and I actually just played my pasture and just hit balls in my pasture, put flags out there, and then my godmother was a golfer, and she took me out a couple times," Heuring said. "Once I turned 16, I just took to the course and started practicing on my own."

Since then, Heuring said his competitive nature is what has allowed him to excel in the sport of golf.

"You can always play it for your life, and I've always been a competitive person, so once I got out of high school I couldn't really play basketball or baseball anymore, so golf just let me stay competitive and gives me something to do," Heuring said.

With the help of his coworkers at the Recreation Center-North, he founded a club for a sport he was so passionate about.

"I founded [the golf club] with my boss and another guy that worked at the rec center and we just thought it'd be fun to travel and play some golf and we got fortunate enough to join the NCCGA," Heuring said.

The NCCGA is the governing body for collegiate golf clubs around the United States, and the national championship is the association's staple event. Schools that belong to the NCCGA can send eight golfers to form a team for tournaments year round, and the entire NCCGA is made up of 225 teams.

The top 25 ranked teams automatically earn a trip to the national competition, and 24 individuals not belonging to one of the top 25 ranked schools are also selected for the tournament. Heuring was one of those 24.

The NCCGA is organized by 23 regions, and Southeast is in the Central Region along with 11 other schools including the University of Missouri, University of Kansas and St. Louis University. Each of the 23 regions hosts four tournaments a year for members to compete for a spot at nationals, according to Heuring.

"Every semester we have two tournaments in our region," Heuring said. "A couple of weekends ago we went to Branson, Mo., played the top course down in Missouri actually, and then a couple weeks later we went up to Jefferson City and played a tournament and last semester we went to two tournaments in Kansas City."

Heuring diligently practiced his game to prepare for the tournament, but said he would rely on simply having a good time to help him do well.

"I was fortunate enough to play up there last year. I made it to Myrtle Beach for nationals, so I kind of know what to expect, but you can't really prepare for it. You just show up and it's a fun time, like you think you'd be stressed out, but this is what everyone has been reaching for. So you're here at nationals, you can't put any more added pressure on yourself," Heuring said. "I've just been practicing on the weekends. I'll go out and play local tournaments, like scramble tournaments, but once I'm [in New Jersey] it's just to have a good time."

David Urmacher, who is in charge of press coverage for the NCCGA national tournament, said that tournaments like this better the game of each golfer who is fortunate enough to be able to attend.

"We try to bring our national championship to premier venues throughout the country," Urmacher said. "What we're trying to do with club golf is get those people who don't have enough time to dedicate to varsity athletics but still want to advance their golf game a chance to compete competitively. These courses are a reward for these students to work hard to play golf."

This year's tournament was played in Crystal Springs, N.J. Heuring participated in a two-day tournament playing 18 holes each day, totaling a 36-hole stroke play event. The first of the 18 holes was played at Wild Turkey Golf Course where Heuring shot 6-over par, and the latter 18 holes was played at Ballyowen Golf Course where he shot 10-over par. Heuring's effort was good enough for him to place 65th out of 222 total golfers.

Once Heuring's club golf days are over, he still intends to stay involved in the sport of golf by either running a golf shop or golf course. No matter what his future holds, however, it is his past that Heuring credits his love for golf to. When asked who is role model in golf is, he did not reply with Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer, but instead he answered with his godmother, Kara Heuring, who first took him golfing.