Northwestern University Athletics
From England to Evanston: Lumsden's Journey Through Golf
12/11/2018 8:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
By Hugh Mallen, NUsports.com contributor
Weeks before leaving home for Northwestern, Ryan Lumsden attended The Open at St. Andrew's. Standing among the spectators, he stood in awe of the golfers and spectacle surrounding the game's oldest major. Fast forward three years and Lumdsen found himself at another major, the U.S Open at Shinnecock Hill, but this time, as a competitor.
"To find myself in a position where I was actually on the range hitting balls with tour players I've followed and admired was just really humbling and something I'll remember for a very long time."
Hailing from the village of Wimbledon in southwest London, Lumsden has been selected to the First All-Big Ten team for the previous two seasons and finished his sophomore campaign with the eighth-best stroke average in Northwestern history. Despite his accomplishments, it's his past failures that keep him motivated and determined to put in the hard work to be one of Northwestern's premier golfers.
During his first year in Evanston, Lumsden recalls a time where he was not picked to participate in a team event, something that he and head coach David Inglis still joke about today. It was that moment of feeling excluded and left behind that sparked a change in Lumsden's approach to the game.
"That was a big change for me. I changed the way I practiced and changed my intentionality. I got rid of the mindset that I just wanted to make the lineup and have fun in college and everything else sort of took a back seat. I think that was really the point at which the coaches and teammates noticed a bit of a change and said hang on this is now a little different, this is getting serious, this is a lot more of what a good golfer should look like," he said. "It suddenly became this thing where I wanted to be the best golfer I can be."
Despite growing up in England, Lumsden represents the Scottish National Team, making his international debut at the 2017 Men's Home International. He said his blood is mostly Scottish and his best childhood memories are from learning the game on the traditional Scottish links courses. The English-Scottish rivalry creates a unique dynamic for Lumsden, one he seems to be handling well.
"My coaches and teammates here have good laughs making fun of my accent and that sort of stuff, but it's all super friendly and in great taste," he noted. "They are a great group of guys and I am really lucky to get to represent Scotland as a country and Northwestern."
A Scotland native himself, fifth year head coach David Inglis sensed Lumsden's desire to become an elite player early in his career. Inglis praised ability to strike the ball long distances but thought he lacked in short game, something Lumsden has had vast improvements on in his time at Northwestern.
"Ryan is a fast learner and has a good aptitude for new information," Inglis said. "You have to credit his work ethic and willingness to do the things that are difficult in practice."
According to Inglis, the senior's development in these areas stemmed from his ability to focus on the long-term plan and take direction."
"Coach Inglis and Coach Goss are incredibly knowledgeable and are able to talk to me in a way that explains what I need to do to improve and why and how I need to do it," said Lumsden. "I think that's very hard to do. I've only found a few people that can do that with me and I feel so fortunate to have coaches who have that ability to make me a better golfer."
Lumsden's progression culminated this summer by qualifying to participate in two professional tour events, the Nordea Masters on the European Tour and the U.S. Open. He missed the cut at the Nordea Masters by only one stroke, finishing +1. These opportunities gave the junior golfer time to self-reflect and learn more about the mental aspects of the game. Lumsden believed he focused too much on the outcome of the event instead of what he was doing in the moment.
"I think that lesson in particular, while it was painful at the time, is going to serve me really well down the line," he said. "I was able to learn from missing the cut on how to be better and use that experience to translate into strengthening my mental game."
Lumsden has also sought out the advice of Northwestern alumni who turned pro, like his former teammate and Dylan Wu. Lumsden and Wu used practices and matches as competition between the two of them, which helped Lumsden sharpen a more aggressive mindset and hone in on the playing style he now possesses.
Along with Wu, Lumsden spent time this summer being mentored by some of the great Northwestern alumni like Luke Donald, Matt Fitzpatrick and David Lipsky while at the Nordea Masters and U.S. Open. The conversations weren't about specific techniques or skills of golf, but more the psychological aspect to the game.
"The experience of the older, successful guys helped me better understand how important the mental side of golf is," Lumsden noted. "I have really seen improvement in myself from listening to them."
When it comes to individual expectations, Lumsden refuses to adopt any one philosophy, but instead continues to set high expectations for not only himself but his teammates as well. He said that even although his game is by no means a final product, Lumsden still believes he can be just as good as any golfer in the nation.
"There's so much left to win and plenty I need to keep working on to achieve my goals for this season. I want to be an All-American and I want to be part of a great team team here at Northwestern."
Working to instill a hyper competitive drive in his team, Lumsden has taken on a leadership role this year knowing it will elevate the Wildcats level of play during the season.
"You want to be the first guy at practice and you want to be the guy working hardest in the workouts. When someone says this workout is tough, you have to be the guy right there saying 'yeah, but we've got this and we can do this." he said. "On the golf course, it's about doing the right stuff at the right times and showing you want to be there and want to win."
Looking ahead, Lumsden has high expectations for his senior season after being part of a Northwestern team that finished 16th at the NCAA Championship. The team focus this year: improve on last years finish and put the Wildcats in position to compete on the final match day of the NCAA Championships with Lumsden forging the path.
Weeks before leaving home for Northwestern, Ryan Lumsden attended The Open at St. Andrew's. Standing among the spectators, he stood in awe of the golfers and spectacle surrounding the game's oldest major. Fast forward three years and Lumdsen found himself at another major, the U.S Open at Shinnecock Hill, but this time, as a competitor.
"To find myself in a position where I was actually on the range hitting balls with tour players I've followed and admired was just really humbling and something I'll remember for a very long time."
Hailing from the village of Wimbledon in southwest London, Lumsden has been selected to the First All-Big Ten team for the previous two seasons and finished his sophomore campaign with the eighth-best stroke average in Northwestern history. Despite his accomplishments, it's his past failures that keep him motivated and determined to put in the hard work to be one of Northwestern's premier golfers.
During his first year in Evanston, Lumsden recalls a time where he was not picked to participate in a team event, something that he and head coach David Inglis still joke about today. It was that moment of feeling excluded and left behind that sparked a change in Lumsden's approach to the game.
"That was a big change for me. I changed the way I practiced and changed my intentionality. I got rid of the mindset that I just wanted to make the lineup and have fun in college and everything else sort of took a back seat. I think that was really the point at which the coaches and teammates noticed a bit of a change and said hang on this is now a little different, this is getting serious, this is a lot more of what a good golfer should look like," he said. "It suddenly became this thing where I wanted to be the best golfer I can be."
Despite growing up in England, Lumsden represents the Scottish National Team, making his international debut at the 2017 Men's Home International. He said his blood is mostly Scottish and his best childhood memories are from learning the game on the traditional Scottish links courses. The English-Scottish rivalry creates a unique dynamic for Lumsden, one he seems to be handling well.
"My coaches and teammates here have good laughs making fun of my accent and that sort of stuff, but it's all super friendly and in great taste," he noted. "They are a great group of guys and I am really lucky to get to represent Scotland as a country and Northwestern."
A Scotland native himself, fifth year head coach David Inglis sensed Lumsden's desire to become an elite player early in his career. Inglis praised ability to strike the ball long distances but thought he lacked in short game, something Lumsden has had vast improvements on in his time at Northwestern.
"Ryan is a fast learner and has a good aptitude for new information," Inglis said. "You have to credit his work ethic and willingness to do the things that are difficult in practice."
According to Inglis, the senior's development in these areas stemmed from his ability to focus on the long-term plan and take direction."
"Coach Inglis and Coach Goss are incredibly knowledgeable and are able to talk to me in a way that explains what I need to do to improve and why and how I need to do it," said Lumsden. "I think that's very hard to do. I've only found a few people that can do that with me and I feel so fortunate to have coaches who have that ability to make me a better golfer."
Lumsden's progression culminated this summer by qualifying to participate in two professional tour events, the Nordea Masters on the European Tour and the U.S. Open. He missed the cut at the Nordea Masters by only one stroke, finishing +1. These opportunities gave the junior golfer time to self-reflect and learn more about the mental aspects of the game. Lumsden believed he focused too much on the outcome of the event instead of what he was doing in the moment.
"I think that lesson in particular, while it was painful at the time, is going to serve me really well down the line," he said. "I was able to learn from missing the cut on how to be better and use that experience to translate into strengthening my mental game."
Lumsden has also sought out the advice of Northwestern alumni who turned pro, like his former teammate and Dylan Wu. Lumsden and Wu used practices and matches as competition between the two of them, which helped Lumsden sharpen a more aggressive mindset and hone in on the playing style he now possesses.
Along with Wu, Lumsden spent time this summer being mentored by some of the great Northwestern alumni like Luke Donald, Matt Fitzpatrick and David Lipsky while at the Nordea Masters and U.S. Open. The conversations weren't about specific techniques or skills of golf, but more the psychological aspect to the game.
"The experience of the older, successful guys helped me better understand how important the mental side of golf is," Lumsden noted. "I have really seen improvement in myself from listening to them."
When it comes to individual expectations, Lumsden refuses to adopt any one philosophy, but instead continues to set high expectations for not only himself but his teammates as well. He said that even although his game is by no means a final product, Lumsden still believes he can be just as good as any golfer in the nation.
"There's so much left to win and plenty I need to keep working on to achieve my goals for this season. I want to be an All-American and I want to be part of a great team team here at Northwestern."
Working to instill a hyper competitive drive in his team, Lumsden has taken on a leadership role this year knowing it will elevate the Wildcats level of play during the season.
"You want to be the first guy at practice and you want to be the guy working hardest in the workouts. When someone says this workout is tough, you have to be the guy right there saying 'yeah, but we've got this and we can do this." he said. "On the golf course, it's about doing the right stuff at the right times and showing you want to be there and want to win."
Looking ahead, Lumsden has high expectations for his senior season after being part of a Northwestern team that finished 16th at the NCAA Championship. The team focus this year: improve on last years finish and put the Wildcats in position to compete on the final match day of the NCAA Championships with Lumsden forging the path.
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