OMAHA (KMTV) — At Shadow Ridge Country Club in west Omaha, golfers are still allowed on the course provided they follow social distancing guidelines. That includes Luke Gutschewski. The Elkhorn Mt. Michael junior was going for back to back Class B championships until the NSAA had to cancel the spring sports season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's hard because you see all the major sports being canceled," said Gutschewski. "You never think it's going to get to you, but you kind of expect it to happen. So when it happened, we were ready for it. It's a tough situation, obviously, but it's what you have to deal with. There are a lot bigger issues than not playing sports right now."
In the meantime, Gutschewski gets his practice in when he's not working on his online classes.
The biggest difference on the course right now at Shadow Ridge comes on the greens where foam covers the holes.
"It's weird but it's the best situation we have," Gutschewski said.
The name Gutschewski might sound familiar. Luke's dad, Scott, is a professional golfer who played multiple years on the PGA Tour, where Luke & his family have made several memories.
"Little memories that people wouldn't expect," said Luke. "I couldn't tell you everything about the big city but I could tell you about the hotel pool in Memphis or something like that. At childcare at the 2009 U.S. Open we were playing and Tiger Woods came to pick up his kids. It didn't mean much to me then. It's moments like that when you're 8, 9 years old you don't really think it's a big deal. But looking back on it, yeah that was pretty cool."
Luke hopes to continue his golfing career in college & one day follow in his dads footsteps becoming a pro.
"When you grow up and all you do is go to golf tournaments, it's something you want to do" said Gutschewski. "You want to get out there and perform at that level too. Being around the best will make you better and I've had a really cool and unique opportunity to be around the best for a long time."
