BOYS GOLF: New coach Abby Lundy inherits young Logansport team
Apr. 19—New coach Abby Lundy inherited a young but talented Logansport boys golf team.
The talent was on display during a 166-186 win over Kokomo Wednesday, April 17 at the Kokomo Country Club.
Evan Brandstatter was the medalist with a 40. Graham Taylor had a 41 and Louis Rozzi had a 42.
Sophomore Logan Lange, who was a regional qualifier a year ago, added a 43. Sophomore Eli Baldwin added a 45.
"It was a great first match," Lundy said. "The conditions were rough with the wind and the rain that we've had over the last week, but the boys played great. I'm very excited with the 166 from the top five and JV breaking 200. I'm looking forward to meeting our goals we've set out for this season."
Lundy said there's a healthy competition for the five varsity spots.
Having three freshmen in the starting lineup is a rarity, but Lundy is expecting the Berries to compete for NCC and sectional titles this year.
"My three freshmen put in a lot of work," she said. "One of them, Evan Brandstatter, just plays golf. So he really focuses in. A lot of my boys go and have swing lessons with other pros in the state. They're just really committed to getting better at golf.
"Definitely the future is bright. I think that these boys can do something for this golf program."
Lundy takes over the program for her husband, Pete, who stepped down after he took an assistant principal position at the new Logansport Intermediate School (grades 5-6). Pete Lundy was the Logansport boys golf coach for the past 10 seasons.
Abby Lundy said the time commitment needed for her husband's new job made it too difficult for him to continue to be the head coach for the boys golf team.
"He loves it, he's still around, he's still volunteer assisting," she said. "He works under Michael Miller [principal at LIS], which is ironic because that's how he started out his golf coaching under Michael Miller. So he started and he's stepping down with Michael which is kind of a cool little story there for that.
"He wasn't forced to step down as an administrator. He just knew for the benefit of our boys golf team that he needed to give it to somebody that was able to leave the building at 4 o'clock and sometimes he's not able to to get to an afterschool match. He just knew in his heart he wasn't going to be able to give 100% and that's not fair to his boys."
Abby Lundy previously coached the junior high golf program in the spring and said she's coached some of the boys on the varsity team for years now.
Natasha Corcoran, who is an assistant coach for the high school girls team, has taken over the coed junior high program. Noah Lange is coaching the fifth and sixth graders.
"They're both alumni golfers within Pete and I's program and so we're excited that they're continuing on with some of the structure and etiquette and lessons, kind of that developmental program that we expect to still be ran for them which is exciting," Abby said.
The Lundys have a strong background in golf. Both played college golf, Abby at IUPUI and Pete at Franklin College.
Tragedy struck their family last October when Pete's father, Roger Lundy, died unexpectedly at age 62 due to complications from sepsis and pneumonia.
Abby said that Roger was supposed to take his Franklin women's golf team to Puerto Rico the Friday of the week that he fell ill.
He went to the hospital the Wednesday before and died the following Monday.
"Unfortunately we lost Pete's dad last October. That's been really hard on our family," Abby said. "Roger was 62 and he was starting to talk about retirement. You put so much into perspective. When it's time for me to retire I'm retiring. If I can do it, I'm not waiting around. Roger was like, 'two years, I just have two more years,' and he never got that. It just puts a lot of things in perspective. We're trying to get through it."
Roger was known as one of the best golf instructors in the state.
"He's such a big name in the golf world, which I think helps me with my last name when I go to tournaments and stuff and they see the Lundy which is a very well known name for junior golf in the state," Abby said. "Roger did amazing things for junior golf. When we lost him unexpectedly in October that was a big rock to our world. We've been dealing with that but I think it's kind of made us stronger."
The Lundys first met at one of Roger's golf camps.
"We met at golf camp that his dad did. We got married from meeting there at golf camp and being counselors. We've been around the golf world together for 20 years now," Abby said. "We do have the same kind of style with the kids and we both run junior camp at Dykeman in the summer together and that will still stay the same. When Pete has time he comes up to the golf course.
"It just puts life into perspective. I know Pete and I are always busy but our kids like sports and we like to be busy. Roger was very busy. He was always teaching golf or coaching golf and that's where Pete and I have goals is to teach and coach and love kids and develop that program here in town. So we want to live on his legacy with that here in our community."
The Lundys inherited a golf simulator from Roger which is now located near the weight room at Logansport High School for the golf teams to use.
"With the passing of my father-in-law we inherited about $10,000 worth of golf equipment from him. My mother-in-law [Denise] was like, 'I want you guys to use it.' She didn't want to just give it to anybody," Abby said. "We inherited a golf simulator and flight scope and a screen and all that. [Athletic Director] Brian Strong made an area for us to be able to utilize that so hopefully we'll get better when we're in the offseason and rainy nights to be able to go and use that simulator and get better that way."
