Polar Bear Spotlight: Austin White

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — Playing golf and studying law at Ohio Northern wasn't in the plans for Austin White (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) during the latter stages of high school. But thanks to keeping an open mind to all possibilities at all times, he continues to enjoy a solid golf career at ONU while attending law school after obtaining his undergraduate degree.

"I've enjoyed every minute here at ONU," White said. "Law school wasn't on the table initially, but after an internship I did, I could see myself getting into law. I researched it more and talked to law students, and I decided to stay here three more years."

By the time White graduates from law school in 2025, he will have spent seven years in Ada. Initially, however, he had little interest in attending ONU.

"My sister went to college here, and I always said that I wasn't going to go where my sibling went because I wanted to do my own thing," he said.

White also favored schools in the south, which was another factor working against ONU as an option. But no other schools quite measured up.

"I visited a ton of other schools but never quite found anything like ONU," he said. "So I looked more into ONU's business program and decided I was going to come here for that."

Playing collegiate golf also wasn't initially on White's radar. He started playing golf at age 10, often with his grandfather. Football was his sport of choice at the time, though, until injuries led him to focus more on golf in high school. While golf wasn't a top priority, he really enjoyed it and later realized that it was something he wanted to invest more time in.

"I had a passion for the game that I didn't know about," he said.

Discovering that passion led him to becoming a member of the men's golf team at ONU where he has displayed consistent improvement on the course. His average 18-hole score of 96.7 as a freshman improved to 84.7 as a sophomore and 81.0 as a junior before increasing slightly to 81.8 in his senior season. He owns a career-low 18-hole score of 75, which he posted in the second round of the Bluffton Beaver Classic last season.

"I started to enjoy the process of figuring out what the best ways were for me to improve," White said. "We work on what we call fractional edges where we're trying to extract every little thing we can to get better. You really have to search for those ways where you can gain in the margins."

The former football lineman has also focused more on his nutritional habits during the past two seasons after doing more cardio work early on in his college career.

"My primary focus my freshman and sophomore years was doing cardio trying to get myself more flexible and get some of the extra weight off that was preventing my rotation. Then I shifted that to strength training specifically for golf and now cross training with other movements so I don't get injured while also making sure I get enough sleep at night," White said. "I'm chasing every little thing that I can to maximize what I can do on the course."

According to ONU head golf coach Chad Bucci, it's that work ethic that makes White stand out.

"When Austin isn't studying, you'll find him either in the lab, at the course or working out to get himself at his peak performance," Bucci said. "I have never seen anything like his work ethic. Failure really isn't an option for him."

White has enjoyed playing for Bucci over the years and is appreciative of every opportunity he's been given.

"Early on, Coach Bucci gave me some chances to play that I probably didn't deserve to have based on my play, and I was able to give tournament golf a shot when there were people who were arguably better than me who deserved the shot," White said. "And he's more than a coach. I'm able to come to him with anything regarding life advice. He's very approachable and easy to talk to about anything."

White was selected for ONU's starting lineup for the OAC Championships during his junior and senior seasons. He placed 42nd overall in his first appearance and tied for 35th a season ago with a career-low 72-hole score of 325.

"Playing in the OACs is such a great experience. Having that added pressure is like playing in a major in professional golf, so it gets your adrenaline going, and it's a lot of fun," he said. "One of the greatest things about it is meeting other people and learning how they play. It helps you get better as a golfer because it helps you understand more about the game."

Another fond memory is from his sophomore season when he opened play with an 8 on a par-4 hole at Colonial Golfers Club. His reaction to that moment sticks with him to this day.

"I got to the second hole and told myself, 'We're not going to get overwhelmed today. We're just going to do whatever we need to do.' I birdied the second hole, and from there on out, I ended up shooting a 3-over 75," he said. "A switch flipped that day, and I will always remember that. It was a freeing feeling to put that mistake behind me and focus on getting better."

Off the course, White majored in marketing with a minor in business analytics as an undergrad. Law school was the furthest thing from his mind, but an internship at Crown Equipment in New Bremen changed all that.

"Being in their marketing department, I was exposed to the lawyers there who dictated what the creative team could send out and making sure they were following the legal guidelines. I thought, 'That's something I would enjoy more than what I'm doing in this internship role.' I thought I could use my business experience to go to law school and pair those two things together," he said. "Law school is a pretty decent amount of work with a lot of rules and concepts to understand and deconstruct. But I definitely feel like I made the right decision."

At this point, as he has throughout his life, White is keeping his options open in terms of his future career. His main areas of interest are real estate law, corporate law and medical malpractice law, and his ultimate goal is to own his own business.

Studying law and playing golf certainly keeps White busy, but he's found a way to stay organized.

"Before I came to campus, I plotted out my schedule with when I was going to be in class, and I identified the time gaps during the day when I could fit things in. I realized that if I wanted to fully commit to both law and golf, it was something I needed to do," he said. "If you truly organize your day, you can find time for things, and you start to realize that you have more time than you think. Golf has been an extremely high priority for me, but you never feel like you're forced to take anything away from your schoolwork, which is the most important thing."

While looking ahead and preparing for his professional future in law, White remains committed to being the best teammate he can be to the rest of the Polar Bear golfers.

"It's always been important to me that I get to know the other golfers on the team. Making those bonds and connections is important because I remember when I was in their shoes, and I want to make them feel comfortable," he said. "It's important to keep in touch with them and try to be the best friend to them that I can. I want to be someone they can trust and rely on and ask questions of."

More about Austin

Fun Fact: Austin is a talented singer and once sang the national anthem at an ONU basketball game. "The alternate path for me was going to school for music and eventually getting my doctorate to become a university music professor," he said.

Top ONU Professors: "The business classes I enjoyed the most were with Dr. David McClough. I really enjoyed the way he taught. It was more like a critical thinking experiment, and it really forced me to think about things in a logical fashion," White said. "Another one I really enjoyed who made my senior year really enjoyable was Dr. Danielle Foster. She always wanted the best for all of us. Dr. Matt Lambdin was also amazing, and my advisor, Dr. Matt Kutch, was always willing to help me with whatever I needed."

Hometown Tidbit: Austin cites the Pennsylvania Farm Show as a top event in his hometown of Harrisburg. The 107th edition will be held Jan. 7-14, 2023. He also recommends the golf courses in the area, including the Country Club of Harrisburg, which was designed by William Flynn. Flynn was also the major architect behind such courses as Shinnecock Hills, Merion's East Course and The Country Club at Brookline, which are ranked as the Nos. 4, 6 and 16 courses in the U.S. by Golf Digest.

Austin's Favorites

Food: Padrone's Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Restaurant: Beer Barrel

TV Show: The Office

Movie: Big

Sport (other than golf): Tennis

Pro Sports Team: New York Giants

Pro Athlete: Charley Hull

Music Genre: Everything

Singer: None

Place He's Traveled To: Ocean City, Maryland