A Unique Path Leads Schiergen to K-State
Apr 25, 2022 | Men's Golf, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Laurenz Schiergen, who fell in love with golf at age 7 back home in Cologne, Germany, and who spent the previous two years serving in the German Army, sits in the Kansas State men's golf locker room at Colbert Hills Golf Course as the Wildcats' top player, coming off two top-10 finishes and a team-best 71.47 stroke average in five events in this spring season.
He's a 20-year-old soft-spoken freshman who's making plenty of noise as the Wildcats head into the Big 12 Championships at the par-72, 7,468-yard Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas, beginning Monday.
"I know what I'm capable of and what I can do, and it's not been my best so far," he says, sitting on a couch before practice. "I can still play better. I'm happy with my progress at the moment."
Since finishing 23rd in his debut at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate in mid-February and 30th at the Colleton River Collegiate in early March, Schiergen has turned in three consecutive top-20 finishes.
His run began when he finished 3-under par 213 after a 1-over par 73 third round at the Louisiana Classics on March 15. He just missed a top-10 finish (he tied for 17th) after some tough holes on the back nine in his final round, but his performance, which included back-to-back 2-under par 70 rounds, was a great sign.
Then, in just his fourth collegiate tournament since joining K-State in the spring semester, Schiergen broke out with back-to-back career best rounds with a 3-under par 69 first round, a 4-under par 68 second round, and a 1-over par 73 final round to tie for fourth place at 6-under par 210 at the Mossy Oak Invitational.
Finally, Schiergen used a 1-under par 71 third round to jump into a tie for 10th place at an even-par 216 at the Hawkeye Invitational on April 17.
"He's done exceptionally well," K-State head coach Grant Robbins says. "We knew what he was capable of when we recruited him. He's a unique freshman in the sense that he's not your typical freshman. He's not 18 coming out of high school. He's a 20-year-old freshman who spent two years serving in the military in Germany, so he's much more mature than any freshman I've ever had.
"For someone coming in from overseas to grasp it that quickly and have success that quickly is pretty rare."
Schiergen's path is pretty rare as well.
It began with a family vacation. The Schiergen family wanted to do an activity together. They chose golf. Seven-year-old Laurenz was instantly hooked. The son of a former horseracing jockey and 20-year veteran horse trainer, literally all the Schiergen family immersed themselves in horseracing. Laurenz stuck with golf.
Eventually, Schiergen joined the German National Team. After winning the 2018 Sir Henry Cooper Masters by 10 shots at 14-under par, Schiergen finished 13th in the 2019 European Boys Team Championship. It was during the European Championship that K-State assistant coach Rob Murray first spotted Schiergen, who was in a foursome with current K-State teammate Tim Tillmanns, who is also from Cologne.
However, Schiergen wasn't ready to go to college in the United States.
Instead, he joined the German Army.
"We have a sport promotion by the Army in Germany, so you do a four-week basic camp with athletes from different sports," he says. "After basic training, you represent the Army and wear the clothes and just focus on your sport. That's what I chose to do for two years, but I felt I was a little bit unbalanced, so my golf game didn't develop like I had hoped. I decided during the middle of last year that college golf might be the best move for me."
This past July, Murray learned that Schiergen was interested in attending college in the United States.
"The recruiting process went pretty fast," Schiergen says. "One or two weeks after we made contact, I committed."
Thus, Schiergen was reunited with Tillmanns, a junior who Schiergen had played golf with since they were 14. Also, Schiergen already knew K-State Luke O'Neill of Connemara, Ireland, through previous European events.
"We certainly didn't expect it to work out like this three years ago, that we'd all end up at K-State," Schiergen says, "but here we are, and we all enjoy it."
And now Schiergen, less than a year removed from his life in Germany, has a new life in the Little Apple.
And he's seemingly flourishing with every round on the course.
"He has a really good short game," Robbins says. "When you have a good short game, it's like good defense and rebounding in basketball — it's always going to keep you in the game, you know? When his short game is good and his ball striking is on, he has the ability to shoot low scores. He's on a hot streak right now.
"The thing about golf, you get ups and downs, and he's on a hot streak right now, and he just has to keep working and getting better. For him to take the next step, he just needs to become a little bit more consistent with his ball striking. With good ball striking, he could go 6 or 7 under par."
As for Schiergen's potential down the road?
"He has the potential to be a great one," Robbins says. Everyone on our team does."
K-State has finished top six in 10 events this year and its 71.48 per player stroke average is on pace to rank second in school history. Aside from Schiergen, Will Hopkins (72.04) has five top-20 finishes, Tillmanns (72.07) has six, O'Neill (72.37) has two, and Nicklaus Mason (73.61) has four.
"We've had a really good spring," Robbins says. "We've been very consistent. I think we've had only one bad round. The Big 12 is the strongest conference in golf from top to bottom, and we know we're going to have to go out there in the Big 12 Championships and play well to have a chance. Our guys are excited. We're looking forward to the challenge."
Meanwhile, Schiergen is eager to see where he goes from here.
"I can still play better," he says. "That's my plan over the next three years here, just to get better and better and become as prepared as I can for the Tour. I'm working hard every day and trying to be disciplined with school and golf. I'm excited to see what comes."
It's a journey he didn't envision a year ago.
And the best could be yet to come.
Laurenz Schiergen, who fell in love with golf at age 7 back home in Cologne, Germany, and who spent the previous two years serving in the German Army, sits in the Kansas State men's golf locker room at Colbert Hills Golf Course as the Wildcats' top player, coming off two top-10 finishes and a team-best 71.47 stroke average in five events in this spring season.
He's a 20-year-old soft-spoken freshman who's making plenty of noise as the Wildcats head into the Big 12 Championships at the par-72, 7,468-yard Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas, beginning Monday.
"I know what I'm capable of and what I can do, and it's not been my best so far," he says, sitting on a couch before practice. "I can still play better. I'm happy with my progress at the moment."
Since finishing 23rd in his debut at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate in mid-February and 30th at the Colleton River Collegiate in early March, Schiergen has turned in three consecutive top-20 finishes.
His run began when he finished 3-under par 213 after a 1-over par 73 third round at the Louisiana Classics on March 15. He just missed a top-10 finish (he tied for 17th) after some tough holes on the back nine in his final round, but his performance, which included back-to-back 2-under par 70 rounds, was a great sign.
Then, in just his fourth collegiate tournament since joining K-State in the spring semester, Schiergen broke out with back-to-back career best rounds with a 3-under par 69 first round, a 4-under par 68 second round, and a 1-over par 73 final round to tie for fourth place at 6-under par 210 at the Mossy Oak Invitational.
Finally, Schiergen used a 1-under par 71 third round to jump into a tie for 10th place at an even-par 216 at the Hawkeye Invitational on April 17.
"He's done exceptionally well," K-State head coach Grant Robbins says. "We knew what he was capable of when we recruited him. He's a unique freshman in the sense that he's not your typical freshman. He's not 18 coming out of high school. He's a 20-year-old freshman who spent two years serving in the military in Germany, so he's much more mature than any freshman I've ever had.
"For someone coming in from overseas to grasp it that quickly and have success that quickly is pretty rare."
Schiergen's path is pretty rare as well.
It began with a family vacation. The Schiergen family wanted to do an activity together. They chose golf. Seven-year-old Laurenz was instantly hooked. The son of a former horseracing jockey and 20-year veteran horse trainer, literally all the Schiergen family immersed themselves in horseracing. Laurenz stuck with golf.
Eventually, Schiergen joined the German National Team. After winning the 2018 Sir Henry Cooper Masters by 10 shots at 14-under par, Schiergen finished 13th in the 2019 European Boys Team Championship. It was during the European Championship that K-State assistant coach Rob Murray first spotted Schiergen, who was in a foursome with current K-State teammate Tim Tillmanns, who is also from Cologne.
However, Schiergen wasn't ready to go to college in the United States.
Instead, he joined the German Army.
"We have a sport promotion by the Army in Germany, so you do a four-week basic camp with athletes from different sports," he says. "After basic training, you represent the Army and wear the clothes and just focus on your sport. That's what I chose to do for two years, but I felt I was a little bit unbalanced, so my golf game didn't develop like I had hoped. I decided during the middle of last year that college golf might be the best move for me."
This past July, Murray learned that Schiergen was interested in attending college in the United States.
"The recruiting process went pretty fast," Schiergen says. "One or two weeks after we made contact, I committed."
Thus, Schiergen was reunited with Tillmanns, a junior who Schiergen had played golf with since they were 14. Also, Schiergen already knew K-State Luke O'Neill of Connemara, Ireland, through previous European events.
"We certainly didn't expect it to work out like this three years ago, that we'd all end up at K-State," Schiergen says, "but here we are, and we all enjoy it."
And now Schiergen, less than a year removed from his life in Germany, has a new life in the Little Apple.
And he's seemingly flourishing with every round on the course.
"He has a really good short game," Robbins says. "When you have a good short game, it's like good defense and rebounding in basketball — it's always going to keep you in the game, you know? When his short game is good and his ball striking is on, he has the ability to shoot low scores. He's on a hot streak right now.
"The thing about golf, you get ups and downs, and he's on a hot streak right now, and he just has to keep working and getting better. For him to take the next step, he just needs to become a little bit more consistent with his ball striking. With good ball striking, he could go 6 or 7 under par."
As for Schiergen's potential down the road?
"He has the potential to be a great one," Robbins says. Everyone on our team does."
K-State has finished top six in 10 events this year and its 71.48 per player stroke average is on pace to rank second in school history. Aside from Schiergen, Will Hopkins (72.04) has five top-20 finishes, Tillmanns (72.07) has six, O'Neill (72.37) has two, and Nicklaus Mason (73.61) has four.
"We've had a really good spring," Robbins says. "We've been very consistent. I think we've had only one bad round. The Big 12 is the strongest conference in golf from top to bottom, and we know we're going to have to go out there in the Big 12 Championships and play well to have a chance. Our guys are excited. We're looking forward to the challenge."
Meanwhile, Schiergen is eager to see where he goes from here.
"I can still play better," he says. "That's my plan over the next three years here, just to get better and better and become as prepared as I can for the Tour. I'm working hard every day and trying to be disciplined with school and golf. I'm excited to see what comes."
It's a journey he didn't envision a year ago.
And the best could be yet to come.
Players Mentioned
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