By Nathan Coppersmith

Ben Langworthy ’11, Macalester’s Athlete of the Week, placed an amazing fifth out of 91 golfers at last weekend’s Augsburg Fall Invitational in Hutchinson, one of the best finishes for a Macalester golfer in recent years. With identical strokes of 75 and 75 each day, he ended with a combined score of 150, four behind the winner of the tournament. The Macalester team came in tenth out of seventeen schools, a result they hope to improve at next weekend’s (Sept. 13-14) St. John’s Invitational.

A golfer since he was ten, the Tucson, Ariz. native is playing the best golf of his life. He admits that he is “for sure better this season” and credits the improvement to several factors. Over the summer, for instance, he played many times with friends from his high school team. Another year of maturity also makes a difference.

“Being in my second year helped a lot. I know how to better prepare for tournaments, you get a feel for the courses, and just another year of practice always helps,” said Langworthy.

A big part of Langworthy’s improvement also lies in his swing. He has a stronger swing in general and his full swing has “really improved a lot.”

“Martha [the head coach] and the assistant coaches have definitely helped out a lot.especially with the swing,” he said.

Before Macalester, Langworthy played on his high school golf team for all four years, starting the last two. When the college process came about, golf was a part of the decision. He knew that he would be on the team here and was “looking for four more years of serious golf.” As a mid-western small liberal arts school, combined with the resources of the Twin Cities, Macalester fit the bill for his ideal school.

An economics major, “sports, music, and movies” are Langworthy’s passions. The eclectic mix of Bob Dylan, Talking Heads, Kanye West, and Lupe Fiasco can be found on his Top 25 Most Played playlist. He also exclaimed that Akira Kurosawa’s famed film Ran, which contrasts to Kurosawa’s largely black-and-white other work, is “one of the best instances of color that I’ve ever seen.”

His favorite golfer is Tiger Woods, whom he managed to see this summer in the famous U.S. Open playoff against Rocco Mediate.

“It was a pretty incredible experience,” Langworthy said.

He is also involved with Mac for Obama and plans to be involved in the lead up to the election. Next year he wants to study abroad as well, maybe in England for economics, or Scotland just for the golf, and would like to make travel a sizeable part of his life for the next five to ten years. For now though, Langworthy is content where he is.

“I just want to keep getting better. Even though I’m playing my best golf, you can always get better,” Langworthy said.