In baseball vernacular, swinging at a low pitch is called golfing the ball.
Rancho Bernardo’s Luke Pirtle ittedly swung at a lot of low pitches in his baseball career, but he took it a step farther after he entered high school. As a sophomore, he traded in his bat and glove for a set of golf clubs.
“He brought the speed of his swing from baseball to golf, and he had so much natural ability, people who saw him said he was better at this point than Xander Schauffele,” said Broncos coach Alex Moreno, referring to the ex-SDSU pro golfer.
“Luke is 6-foot tall, muscular, disciplined and a hard-worker. Some of the golfers who have played a long time are arrogant, but Luke is very respectful and a great teammate.
“When we played at Grand Del Mar, a private course, one of our freshmen had never played there before, so Luke took him under his wing, with the freshman shooting a 2-over. He would never have played that well without Luke’s advice — and we won.”
Pirtle started playing baseball in T-ball as a 4-year-old and if not for the fact his dad, Jim, was a San Diego Amateur Champion who introduced him to the game as an 11-year-old, he might still be playing on the diamond.
That and COVID 19.
“When COVID hit, golf was about the only sport you could still play,” said the senior. “Although I hit for power and had a good average in baseball, during COVID I could play golf every day. There was more action in a round of golf.
“It’s definitely more mental and while playing catcher is the hardest potion on the field, I just loved golfing.
“I miss my teammates, baseball is a team sport, but after I got a hip to Bernardo Heights Country Club, I could play sunrise to sunset. I couldn’t get enough of it and that left me time to study at night.”
He has three highlights in his golfing career that moved into the spotlight after dropping baseball his freshman year.
Pirtle was playing a round with his dad at Deuce Creek, a regulation par 72 course, when he saw his drive on the par 3 ninth hole roll right into the cup.
“My dad saw it go in and although he’s had three holes-in-one, he was more excited than I was when it dropped in,” said Pirtle.
His best round, though, was a 6-under-par 65 at Jurupa Valley.
Perhaps the most memorable round was playing in the qualifier for the Farmer’s Open at Emagic in Chula Vista, where he missed making the cut by just three strokes facing veteran professionals and high-level college players.
“On one of the holes, I shot a triple-bogey,” he recalled. “If I’d just parred that hole I would have made it. It was a great experience.”
But, for golfers not named Tiger, there is always a flip side to having a great day. For Pirtle, it was the frustration of missing qualifying for the Southern California Regional Championships last year by a single stroke.
“My strength is my drives, and I missing so many makeable putts,” said Pirtle, who sports a 3.5 GPA and is still considering where he’ll go to college in the fall. “At Steele Canyon, I started out strong with a par and on the second hole I missed a 10-foot birdie putt I should have made.
“I ended up shooting a 75 at Steele Canyon and 73 at Torrey Pines North, and missing by a stroke, but it motivated me to where I’ve worked hard on my putts and I’m looking forward to playing Steele Canyon again as well as Torrey Pines North, which plays longer and that’s my strength.”
Being bored one day, Pirtle saw his brother’s guitar sitting around and since Tyler was off at college, he started practicing. That was a year ago and now he plays well.
“I don’t know, I wanted to try something new,” said Pirtle. “I got my own guitar and now whenever I have a chance, I play for fun. I really like it.”
As much as golf?
He just laughed.
