For the better part of six years, two Aberdeen natives have been teeing things up in Brookings as members of the South Dakota State University men’s golf team.
Jonah Dohrer, an Aberdeen Central graduate, and Aberdeen Roncalli’s Lucas Schaefbauer are winding down their collegiate careers.
SDSU is set to compete in the Summit League Tournament beginning Sunday, April 28 in Sellersburg, Ind. A team win would qualify the Jackrabbits for the NCAA regionals where they would get the chance to qualify for the national tournament.
Dohrer, in his sixth year, received a medical redshirt the year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which has made the 24-year old the elder statesman of the team.
“It has been a little weird, for sure,” Dohrer said. “Being the older guy. Between my med (medical redshirt) and COVID, I went almost a year and a half without playing. I call my career a sandwich — two years at the beginning, two at the end with COVID and a med in between.”
Schaefbauer’s aspirations to play college golf, let alone for a Division I program, didn’t really begin until after his junior year at Roncalli when he won the Class A individual state title.
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“After I won state I thought maybe I could play at that level,” he said. “Division I golf is serious stuff. In high school, I was kind of used to being the top dog. You get here and get humbled pretty quickly. I did get a little pissed at times and had to learn to stay focused, play one shot at a time. Every guy out here is really good, so you need to learn to move on from a bad shot pretty quickly.”
Dohrer also wasn’t sure if golf was the route he would take following his years at Central. He was interested in playing a sport in college, but not necessarily golf.
“I actually wanted to play basketball after my junior year. I had a really good summer playing golf and then started to get more interest from schools to play golf. Casey (VanDamme, the former golf coach) at SDSU started recruiting me, and really it turned out to be a great decision. I mean, with golf you have to stay in shape, but not necessarily basketball shape, so that wasn’t too bad,” Dohrer said, laughing.
Parker Edens is now the SDSU men’s golf coach after VanDamme left for Kent State.
Aberdeen golfers pushed each other to be better
“Jonah and I have been buddies since high school. Well, maybe rivals first before buddies,” said Schaefbauer, who’s in his fifth year. “I think we both pushed each other to be better golfers. Once I got to (SDSU), we started hanging out. It was good to know someone going into my first year, and going from rivals to teammates was a good thing. We hang out a lot.”
Dohrer agrees with that assessment.
“Off the course, we got along really well. On it, we both wanted to win and be the best. It was a pretty healthy competition, and now, as our careers are winding down, I think we both appreciate the time we’ve had and have left on the course,” he said.
Dohrer and Schaefbauer are retrospective about how golf and life have evolved through the years.
Schaefbauer said his time in Brookings has helped him understand the parallel between the two.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve changed all that much,” he said. “I tried to be a little more calm on the course and just take things as they come, not get as hot-headed as I used to, but I still do at times. It’s hard to turn that on and off when that’s how you’ve played for most of your life. Golf and life can get hard, you just need to stay patient and persistent. I wasn’t in a good head space when I got here, and it affected my game. Recognizing that is good to have as an experience later in life.”
Dohrer said he also had some issues with patience when he arrived at SDSU and felt course management was “something I needed to work on to improve my game.”
He was quick to add that his years with the Jacks have yielded more than just lower golf scores.
“No question these have been the best years of my life,” Dohrer said. “I have memories I’ll be taking with me until the day I die. I’ve had teammates from Ireland, Australia, Venezuela, all over the world, really, and I still keep up with them. It’s been incredible, these past six years. Couldn’t have imagined anything better.”
Dohrer, Schaefbauer will play on Dakotas Tour
Dohrer and Schaefbauer will play professionally as they join the Dakotas Tour, which each summer has 18 golf tournaments in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa.
Schaefbauer is leaving SDSU with a double major in entrepreneurial studies and psychology.
“I’ll be playing part-time on the Dakotas Tour to play more tournament golf while I still have some left in me,” he said. “I’m also now an assistant golf pro and Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, so, yeah, not totally relevant to my majors. It’s a full-time job with very flexible hours and a great staff. I had some experience seeing how things are done with Dean (Zahn) and Jon (Murdy) at Moccasin Creek (Country Club), and that certainly made an impact on my decision.”
Murdy is now golf pro at Lee Park Golf Course.
Dohrer is going into his first year on the Dakotas Tour with an open mind and will assess where his game is now and where it could be in the future.
“I’ll evaluate where my game is and figure out if I need to move a little further south and take it more seriously or stick around here and play more recreationally,” he said. “I have a business economy major and a minor in accounting. Not sure yet how that will come into play. I have kicked around the idea of coaching golf at the collegiate level. I think that would be a lot of fun. Hey, I’ll always love the game and I’ll always play it.”