JORDAN LU
GOLF
SCHOOL: Prince of Wales (Vancouver)
FRESHMAN’S FUTURE: Washington
VANCOUVER — To see Jordan Lu in action on the first day at the recent B.C. Triple A boys high school golf championships at Squamish Valley, was to understand why a boy would leave home at the age of 13, travelling half way around the world to Vancouver, to chase the only dream he’s ever had.
On that day, Lu fired a birdie-filled, course-record 63 on his way to finishing the two-round tournament at 14-under par. Not only did he carry his Prince of Wales Walesmen to the B.C. team title, a full 20 strokes ahead of the nearest competition, he became only the second repeat champion in the history of the event, accomplishing the feat exactly 30 years after Point Grey’s Brent Franklin won back-to-back in 1983-84.
“In Taiwan, you either study or you play golf but it’s hard to do both,” said Lu, a Marine Drive member who left his parents’ home in the city of Tainan, moving in with relatives in Vancouver. “I was scared at first, because I had to go without my parents. But if I wanted to play golf, I had to do it. I couldn’t stay home.”
Battling as hard to maintain his grades in the classrooms as he has in developing his game on links, the move proved so successful that Lu was inundated with offers from NCAA universities over his senior year, some 40 by his last count.
He visited a number, including the University of Michigan, but in the end, felt most at home in Seattle, where this fall he will join the Huskies golf team at the University of Washington on full scholarship.
“I felt like being there, the team is strong, and I am going to get a lot of competition,” said Lu, whose long list of career highlights includes a sixth-place finish at the Callaway Junior World Championships in 2011, and a tie for second last summer at the B.C. Junior Championships. “That is how I am going to get better: playing against players that might be better than me.”
