Golf — unlike team sports such as football, basketball or baseball — is enjoyed by many as a leisurely outlet to visit with close friends with a cooler full of beer, a couple of cigars and half-fabricated stories of miraculous, mostly lucky shots.But golf takes on a different meaning for the small portion of the population talented enough to play the sport competitively. “I do golf basically all day, every day,” said LSU sophomore golfer Sang Yi. “The times I’m not practicing golf, I’m going to be either in the gym working out or in my apartment eating food. All the other times of the day, I’m practicing.”The members of the LSU men’s and women’s golf teams play the sport to pay for their education and for a shot at possibly playing golf professionally. The demanding nature of being a student-athlete is challenging for the players, but the hours logged on the course aren’t an issue. “To tell you the truth, I don’t really get that tired of the game,” said sophomore golfer Austin Gutgsell. “I want to do it for a living, and it’d be better than sitting in an office working. I like to practice as much as I can because I enjoy it.”Gutgsell said he feels “privileged” because he gets to compete in a sport many consider a getaway from the grind of everyday life. The Tigers have played several top-notch courses this season, which average golfers don’t have the opportunities to play, such as the Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra, Fla., which used to be the site for The Players Championship.”We get to travel all over the nation and play all these great golf courses that have high green fees and are really hard to get on,” Gutgsell said. “We get to play them for free and live a really good lifestyle to do that.”The game doesn’t offer much opportunity to be casual on the links for Yi. The competitive nature that makes him able to play at the collegiate level doesn’t allow him to play without honing his craft.”Whenever I’m playing at home with my friends, there’s always competition,” Yi said. “I wouldn’t ever say I’m out there to have fun. All my friends are just as competitive as I am, and it gives me a reason to go out there and focus and a reason to strive to beat everyone I play with.”Gutgsell said he plays a non-competitive round on occasion, but knows when it is time to focus on getting better for the season.”In-season, it’s kind of hard to have a non-competitive round of golf,” Gutgsell said. “I have a lot of friends from my high school golf team that I’m still friends with that play college golf at other places, so we just go and play little games out on the course and have fun.” Though the LSU golfers play golf almost non-stop throughout the season, they manage to squeak some time in for other activities popular with many college-aged people.Gutgsell blows off steam by playing NBA Live or NCAA video games, while Yi has taken up another leisure sport with his teammates.”Some of the other players on the team like to fish,” Yi said. “So whenever we get any off time we get together and fish.”–Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]