April 21, 2005

Watch Patrick McCahill play golf for a round and you might just see a steady, quiet demeanor in the heart of a young golfer. You might just pass it off and say he's reserved, going about his business without much to it, without much thought.

But look closer and there's a myriad of thoughts passing through his mind on every shot. With every swing he thinks about the past, but more importantly, with every shot he looks through to the future.

But he knows that one swing or two swings or however many putts he strings together won't give him that crystal ball.

"It's tough," said McCahill, as he lumbered from his drive off the tee box on the fourth hole of the Lafayette Invitational at Center Valley Golf Club in Center Valley. "Spring semester, senior year - there's so many other things to think about besides golf."

It's easy to watch the senior McCahill and be mesmerized by the shots he easily executes, by the confident, long drive off the tee and the careful approach shots that saw him a round short his freshman year from leading the nation - that's right, the "nation" - in greens in regulation. It's easy to forget that he's a student too, even if you get hung up on the golf game that all of us hacks (because let's admit most of us are on the links) are jealous of. But he does worry out there, he's just like a lot of the final semester seniors that are swarmed by questions of tomorrow, maybe he can drive the ball straight off the tee, but he represents them, and it's evident.

He's a finance major, and while he could've had a posh job set up by now and his thoughts could've been content with crunching numbers in the days ahead, he doesn't want that. He's bored with it.

The Melbourne, Florida native thinks something else would be a whole lot more exciting.

And he means...a whole lot.

Like his father before him, he wants to be an Army Ranger.

The Rangers are the Army's equivalent to the hard-nosed, death-defying Navy SEALs who's regimented, extremely strenuous physical fitness test McCahill took a summer ago. It's the workout that you must master to even have a shot as a SEAL, or a Ranger, or any of the elite military titles.

It only consists of a hellish "third phase" of a ten minute obstacle course followed by a four mile run in under 30 minutes followed by a 14 mile run and a two mile ocean swim in 75 minutes.

He completed it, a test that would make 500 yard dogleg left look like a piece of chocolate cake sitting on your lap.

Four years ago, as a senior at Melbourne Central Catholic, he was lured in to Lehigh by a phone call from the ageless, veteran coach of Lehigh golf, Kelly Gutshall and by his parents, both originally from the Northeast who pushed for Patrick to attend a school from their home region.

His household was really one dominated by sports, especially golf, as from the age of 8 to 18 he saw at least one of his siblings win the Junior Amateur in his region. Even his sister had a hand in it. She now makes her mark in the National Football League as a dancer for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

It was at home, he admits, that the competitive fire was nurtured and has burned brightly ever since.

"My oldest brother just came back from Iraq," said Patrick, whose brother had been stationed there for nine months in the medical corps. "One of the first days back we go golfing and he beats me straight up, shot a 71. I was like, did you find courses out there in Iraq?"

But don't let him make you believe that he doesn't have that same fire. Don't let him make you believe he's a slouch, himself. Coming into his senior year he boasted a plus-two handicap, which is two better than a scratch golfer, and he missed qualifying for the U.S. Amateur a handful of times.

One memorable attempt, it even came down to the now professional Ty Tryon beating him out by only a single stroke.

So this weekend, when Gutshall's boys led by McCahill make their way west to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania for the Patriot League Championship, tip your cap for the guys who carry their own bags.

Wish Patrick McCahill, the two-time All-Patriot League member, some of that Tiger Woods luck he garnered in the recent Masters.

Know that he's not just some kid with a set of golf clubs that can make a downhill, nasty-breaking putt. Know that he's a man on a mission...and he's still looking for his.

Story by Kevin Murawinski, Lehigh Sports Media Relations.