Jared du Toit talks NCAA Division I golf

Getting ready for the big leagues

Last year Kimberley's Jared du Toit signed with the University of Idaho on a golfing scholarship. Being a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I school, Idaho certainly kept du Toit busy throughout the year. So this summer he’s spending some time back in Kimberley—working, golfing and taking a breather from the intensity of his university team's training.

Jam-packed schedule

“We’re probably out playing every day during the week if we don’t have tournaments,” du Toit said about his team’s schedule. “We’ll go practice and our coach will have us do a lot of short game drills, hitting balls, doing drills about five days a week. Then on the weekend, we’ll play and test out what we’ve been working on and see what else we’ve got to work on.”

As finance major du Toit has learned this year, maintaining both academic and athletic standing can make for a pretty busy schedule.

"We have workouts in the morning at 6:30, three days a week—that's kind of tough," said du Toit. "Then we have school, then we're out of class at 1:30, then we have practice for three or four hours. Then when we go home we still have to do our homework and studying and everything, so it's pretty tough."

Choosing a school

Grade 10 was when du Toit began to play in tournaments in the States, but it was in his grade 11 year that things started to get more serious and the offers began coming in. Out of all the schools that wanted him, University of Idaho was the one he wanted to play for.

“Everything fit pretty well—I like the coach a lot and I like the guys on the team a lot, and the school is pretty close to home," said du Toit. "The campus was nice and their degree fit me pretty well, and everything really just kind of lined up.”

The coach at Idaho is John Means, a critically-acclaimed college golf coach and developer of several golf programs across the United States.

“He’s a really good coach and has quite the resume,” said du Toit. “He’s developed a lot of recognition through teaching, and I think that’s where a lot of his passion was—in teaching, not playing.”

Du Toit said he’s seen a solid improvement for both himself and his teammates, thanks to their coach’s wealth of knowledge.

“We’re progressing as a team, and it really gives us things to look forward to,” he said. “(Means) has been around the block. He’s got experience, but he’s still eager to win, and that’s really nice to see… (He) likes us to think that every tournament is a big tournament. He always gets us to treat every tournament like it’s your last and to just go as hard as you can.”

Steady improvement

Though he followed Means’ advice throughout the season, du Toit was initially a little bit skeptical about whether he would be able to compete in the big league that is Division I golf.

“Coming out of the gates for my first tournament of the year, I played pretty well," du Toit said. "I shot three 69s in a row and finished fifth, and right there was when things started to feel right. Before that I was kind of unsure about where I’d fit, but coming fifth I realized I could play with everybody there and it motivated me to try and get the W and try and compete every week the best that I can.”

Du Toit credits a lot of his success to the support of both his family and the tight-knit community at Kimberley Golf Club.

“At Kimberley, all the members and pros have been very supportive,” he said. “They always wanted to see me do well, and it’s been nice having that support.”

Du Toit set out for college with the goal to develop his game to a professional level. And though he might not be at that point quite yet, he said that the prospect is becoming increasingly possible.

“We compete a lot throughout the tournaments against the top golf players in the world,” he said. “I get to see what they’re doing compared to what I’m not, and it turns out that I’m not as far off as I would think. If I just take the time to develop, I’ll be right there with them, and hopefully I can get to that next level.”