WALTHAM NEWS: golfer ROB YOUNKER made right decision

June 22, 2009

By Scott Souza

Waltham Daily News

After transferring to Assumption College during his freshman year, Waltham High alumnus ROB YOUNKER went on to earn the Desautels Award as the school's premier senior male student-athlete.

Robert Younker no sooner arrived on the campus of Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C. when he realized he may have made a big mistake.

He wasn't going to be let out of this major decision easily. Yet the way he worked himself back up to Massachusetts and back on the local greens and fairways made the journey all the more rewarding.

After four years on the Waltham High varsity golf team, Younker headed to Methodist with the idea of making the sport his career. But by the end of his first semester, he decided that might not be for him.

His parents, however, were not so understanding of his quick reversal.

``My parents were not too pleased,'' he recalled. ``They said that if I wanted to transfer I had to do all of my applications myself. They weren't involved at all. They weren't happy that I was only down there a semester.''

But Younker was adamant that Methodist wasn't really for him and wound up transferring to Assumption College, where he changed his major to accounting. He wouldn't completely leave the links behind. Instead of looking to teach the sport, he rekindled his passion for playing it.

Four years later, his wild success both academically and athletically at the Worcester school earned him the Rev. Armand Desautels Memorial Student Athlete Award. One of the school's most prestigious honors, it goes each year to the top male and female student-athletes who combine ``academic achievement with athletic prowess and possess impeccable character.''

As a three-time golf team Most Valuable Player who graduated on May 16 with a 3.69 grade-point average, Younker certainly fit the description

``They were pleased then,'' Younker said of his parents. ``My dad made a funny comment that he was glad I didn't listen to him on that.''

While the ordeal of switching schools so quickly may have been tough, Younker said the four years that followed were challenging as well. While he said the coaching staff was quick to note that academics always came first, his desire to play extensively often caused him to make time for golf and find a way to get everything else done later.

``Golf was actually kind of difficult because we had to drive to Boylston 30 minutes there and back,'' he said. ``Instead of having a standard two-hour practice or hour-and-a-half practice on campus like most sports, if you play 18 holes of golf, it was more like five or six hours.

``It was more time-consuming than other sports. Our coach always stressed school came first, and if you couldn't practice, you couldn't practice. But I was addicted to golf, so I went to practice every day.''

That didn't leave much time to keep the grades up, but Younker found a way to excel.

``When you have a bunch of 15-hour days, it's tough to go to classes early and stay up late to get your work done,'' he said. ``Golfing wasn't the issue. It was doing your homework and going to classes, not just putting on your TV when you get stressed.''

He not only managed to keep the grades way up, but his golf credentials became extensive. As a sophomore, he won the Northeast-10 individual championship and led his team to a fourth-place finish. The Greyhounds went on to finish 19th in the NCAA Super Regionals.

As a junior, he was third in the Assumption College Shoot Out, second at the Dowling College Fall Classic, fifth at the ECAC Division II Championships, fourth at the Northeast-10 Championships and fourth at the New England Invitational.

This season, he was fifth in the Assumption Shoot Out, eighth at the ECAC Division II Championships and eighth at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships. He had nine rounds of 76 or under and was named to the NE 10 weekly honor roll four times.

``That's fantastic,'' deemed Waltham varsity coach Russ Sorin. ``The kid transfers from a school where he wasn't happy, comes to a local school, gets it done with his grades and has an opportunity to play college golf and be successful academically and athletically. It doesn't get better than that. We're very proud of him.

``You could see those skills (when he was at WHS). He was a great captain. The kids looked up to him. He played golf for me for four years. You could see him grow from this little freshman kid to the man he is now. It's good stuff.''

Younker admitted he didn't play as well as he hoped during his senior year, but noted ``that's the way golf is.'' He added that he has since rounded back into top form as evidenced by his qualifying for next month's Mass. Amateur.

``My golf career is still on the upward swing,'' he noted.

As is his professional career as he's already landed full-time employment in a business field - a rare feat for a recent college graduate these days. Then again, few can claim, like Younker can, such well-rounded accolades coming out of school.

``This is the biggest athletic award they give out so it was such an honor to be recognized for both athletics and academics for all four years,'' he said.