By Angelique Thomas
angelique@newsroom.byu.edu
Many BYU students will spend summer months challenging an unforgiving green fairway in a game where luck may determine the outcome as much as skill.
'The sunny outdoors, social atmosphere and the competitive nature of golf is what keeps me out on the course all summer long,' said Breton Stout, 21, a freshman from Fresno, Calif., majoring in business.
Views of wide gullies, tiny strips of fairway, trees, bunkers and ponds create the challenge.
'Golfing is like dating. The first couple of times you go out it is awkward but after a little time and dedication it becomes second nature,' said Andy Miller, 25, a junior from Rockhill, S.C., majoring in information systems.
'I will stand at the tee with the course stretched out ahead, pull out my great Big Bertha, grip it and rip it,' said Kyle Jepsen, 23, a senior from Ogden, majoring in zoology.
Golfing may not be as easy as it looks.
'I spend more time in the sand than David Hasselhoff,' said Brandon Robins, 23, a junior from Rock Springs Wyo., majoring in Computer Science.
'I enjoy the all-terrain golf cart experience, until the last time. I was on my shortest route to my ball in the sand when my tire popped,' Robins said.
The mental game is played out in the labyrinths of the mind.
'I love the mental challenge of the game between the course and me,' said Jared Silverio, 24, a junior from Charleston, S.C., with an open major.
'Playing against yourself lets the athlete inside come out,' said Matthew Thompson, 24, junior from Fresno Calif., majoring in sociology.