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EDWARDSVILLE – Lucas Verdun has played a key role for Edwardsville's boys golf team the past several years.
Verdun will now get the opportunity to use his talents to play a key role for a team on the collegiate level, signing a letter of intent to play for Godfrey's Lewis and Clark Community College beginning next fall in a ceremony at Edwardsville High School Wednesday afternoon.
“It was a good offer for me,” Verdun said about his decision to sign with the Trailblazers. “It was cheaper and there's a good academic program at Lewis and Clark and a good golf program.”
Verdun came to golf when he was in sixth grade. “My dad was playing in the backyard one day,” Verdun recalled. “I just picked up a club and started playing with him; I've just loved it since then.”
Verdun believes the best part of his game is his consistency. “At the beginning of the (2017) season, I wasn't very consistent,” Verdun said. “That really picked up by the end of the season – that's really the best part of my game right now, my consistency.”
Being part of the Tiger golf program has been a big thing in Verdun's high school years. “It's a very competitive program,” Verdun said. “You've got to keep playing good to stay in it – that's where I was this season; at the beginning, I wasn't really playing very well, but I fought my way back into the lineup.
“Playing against kids like Ben Tyrell and Tanner White really helped me because they're both very good.”
“I'm really happy for Lucas,” said Tiger coach Adam Tyler. “Lewis and Clark's going to be a really good fit for him; he has shown over the course of the year flashes of brilliance - he can go low and compete with anybody. In the (Southwestern) Conference tournament, he tied for second overall with Ben (Tyrell) at (Wood River's) Belk Park. He was one of our lowest nine-hole averages this year with a 39.5 average (per nine-hole rounds).
“He can play; it's just going to be more consistent for him; needless to say, they're getting a good player, but an even better kid. He was second-team All-Area, second-team All-Conference and Academic All-Conference, so he's going to do real well out there.”
The Trailblazers play their home matches at Spencer T. Olin Golf Course at Gordon Moore Park in Alton, one of Verdun's favorite courses. “That's going to be good to be able to play there a lot now,” Verdun said.
Verdun plans on majoring in either accounting or finance with a minor in sports management at LCCC; eventually, he would like to attend law school post-graduate and become a sports agent.
