The best golfer in Binghamton grew up in a land where it snows half the year, and people care more about Sergei Fedorov than Sergio Garcia.

Binghamton University senior Jeff Wolniewicz was born and raised in West Seneca, N.Y., just outside Buffalo, and, like every cold weather kid, is supposed to love playing hockey. Flash forward years later and Jeff is the star of the Binghamton golf team. The question is, how did a Buffalo native start playing golf, a warm weather sport?

The Family Man

“My dad was a big golfer, so I just started going with him whenever he played or practiced,” Jeff said. “He would play in the massive indoor golf facility in West Seneca and I always just wanted to go and hang out with him.”

The first real course Jeff played on was a nine-hole course, only open from spring until October. Every day in the summer, his parents dropped him off in the morning, left him there all day and picked him up at night. Quickly, he started to get good. Very good. And it was all to try to beat his biggest rival, his dad.

“My dad is a really good golfer, and my goal as a boy was to always just beat my dad,” Jeff said. “He taught me how to play and always gave me helpful pointers with my game. He laid all the foundations and was just there for me whenever I needed him, especially during times when I was struggling, just to give me continuous encouragement.”

Family has always been the most important thing for Jeff.

“Although my father influenced me a great deal, without my mother Linda taking care of everything for me when I was younger, I would not be the person I am today,” Jeff said. “I’m very close with my older brother Tim and with my younger sister Jaime. She can be an annoying little brat sometimes, but she knows that I’m there for her if she needs me.”

The Tireless Worker

In the summer after sophomore year, he went through a rough patch on the course and really struggled. When he was encountering stretches like that as a young boy, he often got mad, frustrated, and didn’t know how to deal with it. But as he got older, his golf and mental maturity grew with him.

“I got progressively better each year, despite any setbacks I encountered,” Jeff said. “I never had an off year, but I got periods of a month or two when I just played poorly. But I was always able to learn from my turbulent times and mistakes because golf is a sport where these things will repeatedly occur. But you just have to maintain your faith and confidence in yourself that you will get through them all.”

When head coach Nick Lasky recruited him four years ago, the 17-year-old made quite a first impression. Lasky watched him play in his New York State High School Championship at Cornell and knew right away that he would be an incredible player for the Bearcats. The week before his first season at Binghamton, Jeff beat every incoming freshman and every upperclassman on the team with two qualifying rounds of 67.

The strongest aspect of Jeff’s game is his putting ability. For hours, he will practice short putts from all different angles around the practice green, closely resembling Phil Mickelson. In a typical week during the season, he will spend about three hours putting, an hour and a half chipping and pitching and another three hours hitting balls.

“I play a lot by feel because my swing isn’t exactly the most orthodox swing in the world,” Jeff said. “But every time I’m on the course I know exactly what I need to do to get the ball in the hole, and I just go out and get it done.”

“Even if I get frustrated, I never give up, I don’t know the meaning of that phrase,” he continued. “You can’t let a bad hole or round affect your next hole or round. Even if I’m not hitting it well, I have confidence that I can just keep grinding and make pars to keep myself in it and just wait for opportunities to arise.”

The Team Player

Above all, Jeff is a major part of the overall positive chemistry of the Bearcats between Coach Lasky and all of his teammates. There is a reason why the players refer to him not just as a teammate, but also as their leader.

“My teammates are awesome; I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to play with,” Jeff said. “We joke around with each other and there is never a dull moment and always just have a great time. Coach is a great guy, and it’s evident that he cares so much about how we do and that he will do anything to help us out. I couldn’t have asked for a better head coach and my teammates are some of the best friends I could have asked for.”