Former Mid-Am champion Lukas Michel has found a new calling in golf course design.
With respect
Where in the world is Lukas Michel?
When we talk on the phone, he’s calling from tomorrow, actually, near the base of Mount Fuji in Japan. It’s early in the morning but he’s up and doing it because it’s Day 2 of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, one of the biggest amateur events in the world, with spots in the Masters and Open Championships on the line.
He shot a 71 on Day 1 and was a little upset about it, as he was one under par earlier in the round. But that’s in the past, and the near future could be very upsetting. Typhoons hit the Shizuoka area, delaying the second round of the event. All this means is that the golf game is on the sidelines for now, and out comes the laptop.
Michel, who famously won the US Mid-Am back in 2019, received a bid to the Fall Masters and the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot, spends a lot of time on his laptop these days, because his day job requires it. Michel is now a design associate at Clayton, Devries & Pont, an increasingly popular international golf design firm, studying CAD drawings for golf course layouts and greens. What started as an 8 week gig in 2020 has grown into a much bigger role every year since.
“[I’m] at least 75% designer now, and in 2019 it would be 100% player,” said Michel.
That scale may depend on how it’s designed these days for Michel, now 30, and almost every day moving forward, he perpetuates the fact that those who work in the golf industry play the game less than those who don’t. But if there’s anything to be learned from his latest show, it’s that there’s still a big place for both in his life. Have Clubs, You’ll Go it is a good motto not only for advanced students, but also for budding academics.
Before the Asia-Pacific Am – where he qualified as one of the top seven players from Australia – Michel was in New York competing at The Farrell, an elite student comp held at the Stanwich Club in Connecticut. Before that came the Mid-Am at Kinloch Golf Club in Virginia, the biggest event on his annual calendar, for which he is eligible until 2029. Michel took a spin in the UK this summer, wearing a designer hat, familiarizing himself with the origins of the game, and will soon flash his passport in Korea on his way to the Bridges Cup, a 24-player elite novice team event. (GOLF’s parent company, 8AM Golf, hosts the event every year.)
When that comes to an end Michel will return to his home in Melbourne, Australia, where summer has just begun and most of his design projects are underway. You are a reminder to go that in this game, it is seen that you get sun and 75 degrees every one month. You just have to get a gig that supports an annual performance/exploration trip to America and Europe … and hang on tight. That’s why he gave up sleep on his first full flight to Japan to write a few hours of computer work.
“It’s funny because when I take out my laptop and start working, it keeps me awake,” he said. “It’s not a job that makes me sleep. It actually keeps my mind active and keeps me busy, and I really enjoy it … A lot of people can’t say the same thing about the work they do, so I think I’m very lucky in that.”
Computer work is one thing, but when Michel tells a story about asking for the first tee time at the Sandbelt Invitational so he can drive three hours to visit the site, only to drive back that night and play the next round in the morning. , you begin to see what sits at the top of his priority list: his future, as a high-minded, high-performing novice golfer who is focused on creating beautiful golf courses for you, me and everyone else who dreams of playing the game the way he can.
So I ask the natural question: how does one do it? How to stay one of the best golfers in the world again take root in a busy, international construction industry?
Answer: you find it comfortable to be uncomfortable.
“You know, I’ve played a lot of golf with that feeling and I’ve actually played pretty well despite that,” Michel said. “And then I realized, ‘Wait a minute. Yes, I like to prepare a lot, but you can still play well without that.’ Golf is such a mental thing. Once you can prove to yourself that you can do it maybe with a little bit of unpreparedness, I think it gives you more confidence going forward.”
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