'Left Holding The Bag' Can Be Rewarding
Tankers Earn 6th Straig ht NWC Crown
By Jim Kittilsby
To clarion a cliche, here ' s a guy w h o repeatedly is left behind holding the bag, yet is enjoying every moment of the experience. However, at the same time he ' s doing a s low burn, his porcelainized epidermis not yet in harmony with the sun. Steve E n glund , a Dece m be r PLU graduate, is packing a hefty bag on the Professional Golfers' Association tour. Englund is a party to such glamour gatherings as the Bing Crosby National Pro Amateur o n C a l i for n i a ' s M o n t e r e y Peninsula, the Bob Hope D e s e r t C l a s s i c , A n d y Williams San Diego Open, and the Glen Ca mpbell Los A n g e l e s Open. A threat to Johnny Miller ? No, Steve is a caddy for Seattle tour ing pro Don Bies. Now a club t o ti n g packhorse , E nglund aspires to a care e r a s a clu p r o f e s s i o na l and figures this experience will serve as a step ping stone in that direction . Jack Sareault, Tacoma News T r i b u n e s p o r t s s c r i b e , ap tly describes Englund 's career plan as "approaching the business end of golf f r o m the g r a s s - r oo t s level. " En'glund certainly doesn't have to apologize for his own cl ub swinging skills . Playing to a five h a n d i c a p , the Port Angeles n at i v e w a s a s t e a d y , i f u n spectacular fixture on the PLU golf squ a d w h i c h l a s t s p r i n g captured the grand slam o f area links honors - the Northwest S m a l l College C l a s s i c , the Northwest Conference c r o w n , and the NAIA District 1 title. Transferring to PLU in 1 974 from Peninsula Community Col lege , E nglund escaped rou ghs and ruts to spark Roy Carlson 's Lute d ivoters to two s t r a i g h t e l e venth place N A I A national finishes. T h e t r a n s form a tion from amateur player to profe s s ional caddy is certainly not analagous to a baseball slugger reverting to bat boy. Reading greens, gauging distances, and serving as on-the spot meteorologist in wind-factor jud gments is a pressure-packed undertaking at the professional level, where the stakes are high. Taken in tow by Bies, whom he met just before Thanksgiving at S e q u i m ' s D u n geness Pro-Pro Tournament, E nglund is li nked w i t h the P G A ' s 29th l e a d i n g money winner of 1 9 7 5 . B i e s c aptured t h e S a m m y Davis Hartford Open l a s t s u m m e r , a $40 ,000 bonanza, and was a strong ca ndidate in the recent Seattle
Steve Englund
P o s t -Intelligencer Man of the Year in Sports poll. Caddying is not a new venture for E n glund . "I p a c k e d b a g s a round for five years before I started playing in high school, " said Steve . " It wasn't just a situa tion of caddying for duffers eith er, " added Englund. "A memorable e x p e r i e n c e w a s working for Elmer Button, form er state seniors champion. "I got the bug again last winter when I went with my folks to the Bob Hope Desert Classic in Palm S p r i n g s . T h e r e I m e t Fr a n k Crimp, from Central Washington State College, first lieutenant to pro Peter Oosterhuis . " M y i n t e r e s t g r ew a n d I learned about Bies, who has been on the tour for about ten years, from Ken Putnam, the greenskeeper at the Seattle Golf and Country Club. I had previous ly done some work at the Dungeness pro shop and it was there that I cemented a deal with Don at Sequim's fall tourney . " Caddying can be financially re warding, as Sports Illus trated pointed out in a 1975 article extol l i n g t he " new breed" who approach the pin-lifting job a s "an art. " A n d y M a r t i n e z , c a d d y fo r Johnny Miller, reportedly earned $26,000 last year. Most cadd ies r e c e i v e b e t w e e n $ 1 2 5-1 50 per tournament plus anywhere from th ree to seven per cent of the player's winnings. Bies banked $70,000 last year, for the most part sharing the wealth with caddies supplied by the host course. Lute athlete-turned-vagabond, Steve E nglund is totally absorbed in this glitter and gold game at the moment. But he'll move with dis patch when a teaching profes sional position beckons. With the tour experience, it shouldn't take him long to pack his bags . Editor ' S Note : As S c e n e w a s going to press, Don Bies enjoyed his best finish in many months, a s t rong secon d place in the prestigious Andy Williams/San Diego Open. His finish was worth $20,000.
With a swim arsenal of sixteen a thletes who have out-gunned N A I A n a t i o n a l q u a l i fy i n g standards , Pacific Lutheran had little difficulty in capturing its s i xth straight No rthwest Con ference swimming title Feb. 14, the final tuneup for the NAIA nationals in Mars hall , M i n n . , March 5-7. Gary Chase ' s racers won 14 of 18 events as nine Lutes timexed to in d i v i d u a 1 t i t 1 e s . P L U 0 u t d i s tanced the field by a com fortable margin, winding up with 722 points. Runnerup Willamette had 403.5. G l e n n P r e s to n a n d R o n B a r n a r d were d u a l w i n n e r s , Preston bettering the national qualifying time i n the 500 freestyle with a 4 : 57.5 clocking. Glenn' s other ribbon was in the 1650. Barnard , defending national champion in the 200 backstroke, won his specialty in 1 : 59 .0. The Taco m a sophomore i s a g a i n ranked number one nationally by the NAI A. Barnard also splashed to victory in the 100 butterfly. Other individual winners were Steve Randle , 50 freestyle ; Bruce Wakefield, 400 1M ; Bruce Tem p l in , 200 f r e e s tyle ; Dale Brynestad, 100 backstroke ; Gary Shellgre n , 100 breaststroke ; Chris Pankey, 100 freestyle ; and Craig Sheffer, 200 breaststroke. PL U ' s 400 m e d l e y r e l a y quartet of Bruce Wakefield , Scott Forslund, Ron Barnard , and Bill Parnell set a pool and conference record with a 3 : 4 1 . 0 clocking. This represents the second best time in the NAIA this year.
Lute Spring Sports Fans Optimistic Ground hogs may be the harb inger of spring's climatic condi tion on the east coast, but the PLU community senses spring is just around the bend when they see t h e golfers , tennis buffs , basebaUe r s , t h i n c l a d s , a nd rowers going through their paces - in the fieldhouse or on their outdoor environs . Roy Carlson has three golfers back from the squad which has captured three straight Northwest Conference titles and a pair of NAIA District 1 crowns. Gre g Peck, Jim Ball, and Bob Wiebusch are the top returnees f o r a P L U squad which has earned eleventh place national finishes the past two springs. LV's ree-year reign as lord
of Northwest Conference tennis was snapped last yea r, Whitman snipping at the district level as well However, Mike Benson has a talented cast headed by senior M a r k L u d wig , N W C s i n g l e s c h a m p i o n , a n d S t e ve Knox , Ludwi g ' s partner on the NWC runnerup doubles tandem. Baseball at PLU continues to m a ke stead y , if unspectacular gains. The Lutes, 12-17 last year, the best PLU season in ten years, should be well fortified at every position this year except on the mound . I n the pitchin g d e p a r t m e n t PL U must rely heavily on newcomers. A trio of .300 plus hitters , Tony Whitley, Steve Irion, and Jeff Johnson, are back to bolster the bat corps. Paul Hoseth ' s tra c k s q u a d , third in NWC action last year, is expected to be strong in the field events, particularly the jumping depart m e n t . The L u t e s h a v e defending conference and district triple jump titlist Doug Wilson, p I us l o n g j u m p ch a m p M i k e White, b a c k in actio n . Gordo n Bowman, school record holder in t h e t h re e m i l e , h a s a l r e a d y captured ribbons in his specialty at indoor meets this season. Lute rowers will be starting from scratch und e r new coach er PLU Dave P e t e r n , a fo oars man. A fire last May com pletely gutted the American Lake boathouse and destroyed PLU ' s f o u r - o a r e d a n d e i ght -oared shells .
B ragato Tops On Mat Team P a c if i c L u t h e ran wrestlers could muster only one victory in s e v e n d u a l meet outings, but junior strongman Rod B r agato provided individual heroics for Lute grappling fans. Bragato , a 185-pound footballer who shrinks to 158 for wrestling, won eight of his last nine matches l e a d i n g i n to t h e c o n f e r e n c e t o u r n a ment. G a ry Meininger, 1 4 2 , serving a s student - c o a c h w h i l e R o y C a rlson recuperates from knee surgery, posted three regular season victories. 1 976 Football Schedu l e Sept . l 1 Alumni Sept . 18 UPS Sept. 25 at Central Wash. Oct. 2 at Lewis & Clark Oct. 9 Willamette ( Dad' s Day ) Oct. 16 at Linfield Oct. 23 Pacific ( League Day) Oct. 30 at College of Idaho Nov. 6 at Whitman Nov . 13 Whitworth (Homecoming)
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