Hokie ClubBy Jimmy Robertson
No person wanted to play the spring golf season more than Mark Lawrence Jr., and no one expressed more disappointment at the COVID-created cancelation of it.
Five months later, the Virginia Tech golfer is even more disappointed at the cancelation of the fall golf season. That's because Lawrence arguably ranks as the hottest collegiate golfer in the country at the moment following two bigtime wins on the summer circuit – and he wants to take on all challengers.
The Richmond native torched the competition to win the State Open of Virginia held at Ballyhack Golf Club in Roanoke, Virginia – a course he knows quite well considering its 30-minute proximity from the Virginia Tech campus – and then he polished his summer resume with a victory in the Virginia State Golf Association (VSGA) Amateur Championship held at River Bend Golf Club in Great Falls, Virginia.
"No, I wouldn't say I'm surprised," Lawrence said via phone in mid-August. "I sort of set high expectations for myself every year, and I haven't really been meeting my expectations in the past. I sort of got everything clicking this summer."
In mid-July, Lawrence blitzed Ballyhack and the competition, firing a 9-under-par 63 on the first day and ultimately cruising to the victory. He led by four strokes after the first round, by seven strokes after the second, and then his lead never dipped below four strokes in the final round, as he closed with a 69.
The win marked his first in the State Open – a tournament that has plagued him over the years. He twice has lost in a playoff, including last year.
The VSGA Amateur Championship was a bit more challenging. In a 36-hole match play final against 17-year-old David Stanford, Lawrence held off the youngster 3&2 to claim his second amateur title. He also put himself into the history books, becoming just the fourth golfer ever to win both the VSGA Amateur and the State Open in the same year and the first to do so in 35 years.
"I knew going in [to the State Open] with the way I was hitting the ball, I was going to play well," Lawrence said. "I just had to stay in it and not give anything back the whole time. I did a good job of keeping the ball in front of me and made it a lot easier on myself.
"At the state Amateur, I might not have been quite as dialed in as I was, but I still played really well. I hit the ball really well, and that helps a lot in match play because when you're hitting the ball well, you're kind of forcing your opponent's hand, and you try to be a little more aggressive. That really makes a difference once you get in match play."
Lawrence's game took a notable turn for the better after last year's fall season. He played well in the fall, finishing in the top 10 twice in six events, but he wasn't quite where he wanted to be.
He cracked the face on two of his drivers in the fall, and he kept adjusting his swing to try and get the ball in play off the tee. After the fall campaign, Tech head coach Brian Sharp met with Lawrence and suggested that he see a club fitter in Charlotte for a new driver. Lawrence made the trip in mid-December, received his new driver in January, and he gradually began hammering longer and straighter drives.
"It took me a little bit of time to get used to it because I had altered my swing to try and make the other drivers that I had work versus getting something that was right for my swing," Lawrence said. "It took me a little bit of time to get used to it. It started to really click honestly about right at the time when COVID canceled our spring season. That was when it really started to click for me."
Lawrence and the Hokies played in one round at the Dorado Beach Collegiate in Puerto Rico before inclement weather reduced the event to the one round. A few weeks later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the NCAA and ACC shut down all athletics-related events.
It was a tough pill to swallow for Lawrence.
"It's pretty disappointing," he said. "I understand the reasoning behind it. I wish there could have been a way to play out the season, but thankfully, I'll have an opportunity to play this spring."
After shutting down all spring sports, the NCAA made the decision to grant all spring sports athletes an additional year of eligibility. Lawrence still plans on returning to Blacksburg for the upcoming spring semester even though he graduated in May.
Getting his finance degree was important to him – so important that he made a rather unorthodox decision before the 2018-19 season, at least unorthodox in the golfing world. Lawrence made the decision to take a redshirt season, and that year allowed him to catch up academically on coursework. Plus, it eliminated the dual pressure of trying to graduate and to prepare his game for a move to the professional ranks.
"It was tough to miss some tournaments with the guys [during his redshirt season], but it was good for me because it made it so, in the long run with all this that is going on, it's very beneficial given that it would be a lot tougher to be done with school and be in no man's land right now when it comes to pro golf," he said. "It worked out well since I wasn't going to be able to graduate that year, which would have been my senior year.
"I've had a few friends that have tried to graduate and turn professional at the same time, and it's a really challenging thing to do. It's hard to put 100% of your focus on one thing. So it was a much better situation for me just being able to take that redshirt year and put myself in the right position to graduate, just coming back the following year and taking a limited class schedule and cruising to graduating – and I got to practice and play a lot more."
In looking at his current situation, Lawrence actually caught a break with the NCAA's decision to grant an additional year of eligibility. The PGA TOUR canceled its qualifying tournaments because of the pandemic, leaving Lawrence and others searching for an avenue into professional golf. But now he gets to pursue a second degree, gets a chance to pursue a national title, and gets to put his game in the best possible position for when he turns professional next summer.
"Initially, they hadn't given us the extra year, but at the time, even if they had, there was no way I was coming back to school," Lawrence said. "I've graduated. There's no reason for me to turn back, and I needed to turn pro. So my mindset was all about how I was going to do that.
"Once the news came out from the PGA TOUR that the Q-school [qualifying school] for 2020 was canceled and they were going to extend everyone's status until 2021 and then everyone would pick back up to normal then, I tried to weigh my options and figure out what was best to do. Once the NCAA gave us an extra year, coming back to school was the best option. If they had said Q-school was canceled and there was no extra year of eligibility, I'm not sure what I would have done."
Instead, Lawrence plans on playing in a couple of area tournaments this fall, while also earning a little extra money from his job at Kinloch Golf Club. Staying at home this fall also allows him to save some money before he returns to Blacksburg in January for the spring semester and season.
Of course, during his extra time this fall, he'll be honing his already strong game. Given the way he played this summer, he only needs to fine tune his game rather than overhaul any part of it.
"Just try to get a little bit better at everything," Lawrence said. "Consistency is huge to me. I want to get to where if I play bad, I still shoot a good score, and when I play good, I shoot a great score. My goal is to get where I can do that. Just every aspect, I want to get a little bit better.
"One huge thing I've tried to get better at this summer, which I think has helped me a lot, is distance control. I follow a lot of golf, and I watch a lot of golf. Tiger Woods dominated the PGA TOUR for a while and he was the best in the world at distance control with his approach shots. Then you got Collin Morikawa and he just won the PGA Championship, and he's the best in the world right now with distance control with his iron shots and approach shots. Distance control with my irons and wedges is something I'm going to work on this fall and try to get as good as I possibly can. I think that's one of the more underappreciated things that great players can do, and I think that's something that I can always try to work on and improve."
The Hokies certainly could be the biggest beneficiaries of an improved Lawrence. With his return, the return of the rest of the roster, and the addition of two freshmen, Tech, as a team, figures to be much improved.
Lawrence can't wait for that first practice in January.
"Some of those guys are some of my best friends, and I'm really looking forward to it," he said. "I think we can be a good team, too. With the chemistry we have as a team, it's going to be a lot easier for us to be successful, especially with the way our team fits together."