At first glance, Thomas Lim might have looked like a rule breaker, the new guy causing problems already. The Oregon golfer showed up late to practice at Emerald Valley Golf Club on Sept. 26, decked out in an outfit head coach Casey Martin normally frowns upon: a T-shirt under a white Oregon pullover and bright yellow athletic shorts. Oh, and Lim broke the law on his drive over.
“I was speeding,” Lim said. “I got pulled over.”
As rebellious as Lim may sound in this situation, those transgressions were simply part of another stressful incident in the life of an incoming freshman.
Before practice, Lim was at the John E. Jaqua Academic Center for Student Athletes going through what he described as a “boring” freshman orientation. The meeting went nearly an hour longer than it was scheduled, causing him to hurry and eventually get in trouble with a highway patrol officer (Lim didn’t receive a ticket for speeding.)
This is the same guy who, just 10 days earlier, absolutely dominated his first college golf event. From September 16-17, Lim competed in the individual tournament at the Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational in Bremerton, Wash., and blew away the 47-man field. The 122-pound freshman from Southern California shot 12-under par, nine strokes ahead of the second-place finisher.
“It felt great,” Lim said. “I obviously have played a bunch of tournaments, but this being a college event, it was huge for me to get started on the right foot.”
Coach Martin looked at that tournament in a different way.
“He made me look bad,” Martin said with a smile. “If I were a better coach, I would’ve had him in the lineup.”
Martin said he aggressively recruited Lim, which is one of many things the freshman appreciates about his coach. Lim said Martin has helped him get adjusted to college life, assisting Lim with issues regarding his dorm and textbooks.
“I had no idea what to do and he (Martin) talked to people and he’s like, alright, you need call this number and do whatever,” Lim said.
Lim said he’s also received a ton of support from his teammates, even though they’re often hard on him. Sometimes, they’ll just tease him like they did on Sept. 26 for arriving late to practice in workout clothes. Other times, the hazing involves some heavy lifting.
“At the airport, we make him carry our luggage and get it off the belt,” sophomore Ryann Ree said. “Every freshman goes through it.”
On top of all that, Lim has to prepare for his first college classes, which include Business Administration 101, Writing 121 and Math 111. He said he loves the school’s athletic programs, but academics — especially the business program — were equally large factors in him coming to Oregon. Business or sports marketing are the two careers he wants to pursue the most.
But he hopes he won’t need to pursue a career in those fields right after college. For the heavily-recruited player who’s already made an impact as a freshman, becoming a professional golfer is his number one plan.
“I don’t want to think about the back-up plan too much,” he said.