An ankle injury led to an athletic career shift for Idaho’s Sean Langham

Sean Langham has not always been a golfer.

Up until half way through high school, the now- junior was well on his way to becoming a professional cricket player in Australia. Langham, originally from Sydney, Australia, did not switch to golf until late in his high school career. He never imag- ined he would be playing golf.

“From the age of eight to 15, I took my cricket very seriously and I was playing at the highest level I could at my age,” Langham said.

Langham took it so seriously he switched from an academics-focused school to an athletic academy.

Craig Langham, Langham’s father, said the change in schools was a huge achievement and was meant to put more structure around his academic and athletic pursuits.

Halfway through his high school career playing cricket, Langham had a chronic ankle injury that prohibited him from achieving his dream of playing cricket.

“I played with the injury for a bit, but I just couldn’t do it anymore,” Langham said.

Langham first turned to his father to figure out his options.

“I didn’t see the conversion to golf occurring — I am a golfing enthusiast and had arranged for Sean to have a golf lesson when he was about seven but nothing more than that,” Craig Langham said.

However, something was missing for Langham.

“One thing I really noticed right away was that I missed the team spirit of cricket since I was playing individually as a golfer,” Langham said.

During the switch, his parents always supported his decisions, Langham said, but the bigger pressure came from his school.

“I had to try to get a sports exemption through the school so that I could play golf,” Langham said. “But I wasn’t good enough yet and had to prove to the sports master that I could do it over the next six months.”

Langham said he was very motivated by the other players that were his age who were way better than him.

“Cricket can really get in your head after you win a few matches, but golf is very humbling because if you have a bad day, you lose, your team can still carry a bad player in cricket,” Langham said.

The transition was one Langham adjusted to over time and took in stride.

“I recall he started with a handicap of 32 and was down to single figures within six to nine months,” Craig said.

After some time with the sport, Langham decided he wanted to continue pursuing golf in the U.S.

“My dad always wanted to move to the states as a kid and he gave me the idea to do it,” Langham said. “I have always been a very independent person and I really just wanted to get away from everything back home and do my own thing for a bit.”

Langham told his father he wasn’t good enough to go to any Division 1 golf schools in the states, but he wanted to get into a smaller school to improve himself. He spent the first years of his collegiate career at North Idaho College, where he won four tournaments before coming to Idaho.

David Nuhn, the men’s head coach at Idaho, said Langham is a winner, which is what drew him to Langham as an athlete.

“The fact that (Langham) was competing at the highest level he could at NIC meant that he needed to push himself further and go to a bigger school,” Nuhn said.

After playing two years at NIC for two years, Langham had a number of schools to choose from to finish out his collegiate career, including Grand Canyon University, Jacksonville University and Idaho.

“We really were focusing on his golf translating to Division 1 courses from what he might have been seeing at NIC,” Nuhn said. “He also just brings some really positive diversity to the team and it is very exciting to have him and his competitive spirit here.”

Now, several years into his golf career, Langham can not imagine his life any other way.

“Golf gave me this opportunity in the states to play and I couldn’t imagine what life would be without it,” Langham said.

Connor Swersey can be reached at [email protected]

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