Kruger’s competitive edge not meant for golf course

Justin M. Bowen

UNLV head coach Lon Kruger golfs at the Southern Highlands Golf Club Monday for the Coaches vs. Cancer Las Vegas Golf Classic.

By Rob Miech (contact)

Friday, June 5, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

His ball never landed in sand. It splashed into water once. The only other trouble UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger found was in the wheat-like thickets to the left of the 18th fairway.

“First time he’d been in there,” said veteran caddy Bruce “B.A.” Davis.

A round of golf with Kruger at Southern Highlands is a study in class and composure, of patience and sportsmanship. Most important to him is enjoying good company, a beautiful day and an immaculate course.

Davis learns plenty about a person during 18 holes. How does he handle pressure? Does he let his previous shot affect his next shot? Does he play within the rules?

Golf bags are telling, too. Monday, many large and spiffy models, names emblazoned across the back, stood out at the first of two days of Kruger’s Coaches vs. Cancer fundraising tournament, which raised $150,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Kruger keeps his sticks, including a 14-degree Rescue beauty that helps him dodge the beach and the wet stuff, in a skinny, worn, black bag that has a tear in a gray pocket at the bottom.

There’s no bling in his PING.

“He is sneaky long. He’s simple and basic, very fundamental – much like he coaches,” said Davis, a 21-year cancer survivor who has looped for Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. “That’s why he’s done such a great job with the UNLV program.”

Kruger played to his 6 handicap, and his group finished a shot out of third place at the end of Tuesday’s round at TPC Las Vegas. Again, though, it’s not about scores or number of birdies or winning.

It’s about the experience, which goes back to when Don Kruger started taking the eldest of his six children to that sand-green nine-hole course in Holton, Kan., when Lon was 10.

That summer, they golfed every other week.

Don Kruger, at 66, passed away from cancer in 1998. Occasionally, Lon thinks about his mentor when he strolls a course. Self-control and self-discipline were huge with Don.

“He was always pretty big on course etiquette, in terms of demeanor and being upbeat and encouraging others to have a good time,” said Lon Kruger, “and not letting your play affect others in a negative way.

“He’d say don’t let one bad shot mess up the next one. In golf or anything else, that’s a pretty good rule of thumb. I certainly have fond memories of those days.”

It’s those roots that would never allow Kruger, unlike Louisville coach Rick Pitino on New Year’s Eve, to leave a basketball court after a game without shaking the other coach’s hand.

Kruger restricts his golf to May 1 through Oct. 1. He returned to the course less than two months after his August 2007 heart bypass surgery. A couple rounds later, his normal, steady swing was back.

In Kansas, Kruger hit his two holes-in-one. When he coached the Atlanta Hawks, he twice watched the Masters at Augusta National. He’s been in the 60s a few times and once had a 3 handicap.

“It’s very therapeutic, no question,” Kruger said. “It’s very relaxing and very enjoyable. It’s good networking, too, meeting a lot of people and developing those relationships.”

Monday, more often than not, Kruger had the longest drive, and was closest to the pin on the par-3s, in his foursome. He’s efficient and reliable, someone said, like Ben Hogan.

He shared a cart with Jimmy Lee, the CEO of a financial consulting group in Las Vegas. Within the previous week, Kruger and Lee played together twice.

“You’ll have fun watching him,” Lee said. “He’s good.”

Nike representatives Eric Lautenbach and Ben Lindquist rounded out the quartet. Both flirted with disaster over the final nine holes, but Kruger was always quick with supportive words, fist bumps and even hand claps.

They started on the third hole, playing 379 yards from the blue tees, and Kruger’s precision approach shot landed four feet from the cup.

“C’mon now, let me have a couple minutes of glory,” said Lindquist, laughing, when his sweet second shot was outdone by Kruger’s. Kruger tapped in for an easy birdie.

When he opted to hit a 3-wood instead of a driver on the 320-yard No. 5, Kruger said he didn’t have the courage to hit the big stick. That typified his safe, surgical style. His birdie putt attempt just missed right.

On the green of the 156-yard eighth hole, after tapping Lautenbach twice on his left shoulder for hitting a nifty putt, Kruger slipped in a 12-footer for another birdie.

Kruger plopped his ball short, into the water, on No. 9, one of the many Southern Highlands holes where a waterfall cascades into a pond. He finished with a double-bogey 7.

Still, he guided Lautenbach in hitting a tricky blind shot high over the back of the hole, over bushes, that landed left of the cup and short of the water.

“More good coaching from coach,” Lautenbach said.

Kruger birdied No. 16, a 390-yard par-4, when his curling 15-foot putt found the hole on its final Tiger-like revolution – with the rat-a-tat-tat of a nail gun in a nearby home under construction puncturing the scene.

On No. 1, Kruger eased in another 15-foot birdie putt, downhill and left, during the only two minutes of the day in which rain sprinkled down on the course. His foursome erupted.

“It’s all about perspective,” Kruger said. “If you only have a good time when you win, it wouldn’t be much fun. You have to keep it in the right perspective. Some people compete to win when they line up at anything.

“I don’t do that at all. I like to play well. It’s a challenge to hit good shots, and I try to play as well as I possibly can. Winning is secondary. That’s why I enjoy every day when I go out to a course.”

He leaves his competitive drive to basketball.

“It might sound funny,” Kruger said, “but I’m comfortable picking and choosing when I compete for results.”

The round ended, and the foursome exchanged handshakes and pleasantries. The dozens of golfers were repairing to the 19th hole when Lee walked back to his bag on the back of a cart.

“You know the best part about it?” he said. “Coach Kruger is just a really nice guy.”