OREM -- South African import Nic van Vuuren is the heart and soulof the Utah Valley State men's golf team.
Van Vuuren -- a 23-year old junior -- is the team captain and two-time Wolverine Golfer of the Year.
The account of how the Johannesburg native ended up in Orem in thefirst place is the ultimate stroke of good fortune for Wolverinescoach Tommy Johnson.
"I inherited Nic," said Johnson, now in his second season atUVSC's helm. "I'm proud of everybody on the team, and I know thatthey're working hard, but Nic is just simply at another level."
The story goes that when van Vuuren found out his girlfriend,Lexi, was moving from South Africa to the United States, he beganresearching in earnest the possibility of joining her stateside on agolf scholarship.
"I was back home in South Africa," van Vuuren said, "and I got onthe internet and just looked up a whole bunch of schools. I sent e-mails and left messages with dozens of coaches and schools."
Former UVSC coach Randall McCracken went to the trouble ofreturning van Vuuren's call. The rest, as they say, is history.
"I actually left a message on (McCracken's) telephone," van Vuurensaid. "He called me back, and we just got going straight from there.Then he offered me a scholarship, and he had me hooked."
On the course, van Vuuren's strength is his driving.
"I hit it pretty straight and long off the tee," van Vuuren said."That's probably my biggest asset on the gold course."
At the Falcon Invitational in Colorado Springs last weekend, vanVuuren led the Wolverines by finishing second overall in individualscoring at four-under par. UVSC's number two golfer was 13 strokesbehind van Vuuren at nine-over. According to Johnson, van Vuuren'ssuccess is no accident.
"It's not like he's some prodigy that just rolls out of bed andgets it done without putting any work into it," Johnson said. "Nicsets the bar for our team as far as dedication and effort areconcerned. He deserves everything he gets."
If there's a down side to being so good, it's that van Vuuren mustcope with being part of a Wolverine squad that's still growing intoits new Division I shoes.
"We're getting better as a team every day," van Vuuren said. "Thisyear we've got some pretty good new recruits in. Slowly but surelywe're growing into a pretty good program, and hopefully we can startcompeting with the other teams."
Van Vuuren, whose favorite golfer is fellow South African ErnieEls, hopes to take the next step with his golf career when college isover.
"The plan is when I got done with college to turn pro and try andmake it out on one of the tours," van Vuuren said. "That's the plan;we'll see how it goes, but that's what I would like to do."
Until then, Tommy Johnson can keep thanking his lucky stars forNic van Vuuren.
CROSS COUNTRY: Junior Joe Bendoski finished fourth last weekend atthe BYU Autumn Classic, finishing the four-mile course in 20:31. Boththe men's and women's teams travel to Bozeman, Montana, this weekendfor the Bobcat Invitational double dual meet.
WOMEN'S SOCCER: Jenni Wright scored two goals to lead UVSC to itsfirst win of the season Saturday, a 3-1 conquest of CaliforniaBaptist. The Wolverines host Southern Utah at 2 p.m. Saturday.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: The Wolverines won two straight matches lastweek, beating Boise State Tuesday and prevailing Friday overNorthwestern State. The squad will host the Utah Valley StateInvitational this weekend, featuring Idaho State, UC Davis, and TexasA&M-Corpus Christi.
WOMEN'S GOLF: The Wolverines begin their first season evercompeting on the links in the women's ranks with the Northern ArizonaUniversity Mountain Shootout in Flagstaff this weekend.
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