Photo by Jill Schwarz Nick Schwarz prepares to tee off at the Marshall Golf Club.

MARSHALL — Golfing has always been a family affair for Nick Schwarz.

For him, it all started as a youngster. He played golf with his brothers in Wabasso. He also played a year on his junior high team as well. His fondest memory as a youngster was playing golf with his brother, father and cousin at Koronis Hills in Paynesville and the subject of hole-in-ones came up.

“I was standing on the tee box on a par 3 at Koronis Hills and my cousin from out of state was golfing with my dad, my brother and I,” Schwarz said. “He asked if any of us had ever hit a hole-in-one. My brother who had three hole in ones at that time, just finished his swing during the question. He picked up his tee and said, ‘I’ve had 3, maybe 4,’ and the ball proceeded to go in the cup.”

Schwarz joined the Marshall Golf Club in the early 2000s while working for Schwan’s. He played in a men’s league.

“It was a great way for us to blow off some steam after a week of work,” Schwarz said of playing in the men’s league. “It was a great way to get some social interaction, really connect with the community and meet new people. We have a lot of fun doing that.”

Schwarz, and his wife, Jill, have four children — Ana, Rachel, Sam and Avery. Everybody golfs, according to Schwarz.

His eldest Ana, 22, just completed her collegiate career at Bethel University. Her greatest achievement was winning the Division 3 Classic at Emerald Greens in Hastings.

Rachel, 20, who is attending Augustana, qualified for the state tournament while attending Marshall High School. She also captured the Women’s Club Championship in Marshall on a birdie at the first playoff hole in 2020.

Sam, 16, who will be a junior at Marshall High School, just completed his best season to date recording a 79 and 78 to close out the year.

Avery, 12, competed in her first golf tournament as a youth and knocked in a birdie putt, the youngest in the family to accomplish such a feat.

“For Jill and I, it is very rewarding to be able to do a hobby with your kids together,” Schwarz said. “Which allowed us to spend more and more time together as a family on the golf course and nothing is better.”

He enjoys playing Scrambles with the family, which is a format where you form a team of two to four players and each member hits the ball. The team captain chooses the best shot and each team member hits the shot from the same spot.

“Scrambles are particularly fun.  Rachel hits the ball long, and off the red tees and the distance really makes a big difference,” Schwarz said. “Short game is Ana’s strength and as well as hype, so when she drains a long putt, she brings some noise and energy to the team. Sam has a great balance of both long and short game and it’ll be fun to have his growing game a part of our family scramble teams.  Jill can hit the ball solid off the tee and I am good around the greens, we complement each other’s games as well.” 

 Schwartz’s favorite professional golfer is Scottie Scheffler, who is the PGA No. 1 golfer in the world. He feels Scheffler is very poised, likes how he brings in his faith and thinks Scheffler is very impressive.

Schwarz’s favorite courses to golf on outside of Marshall is Koronis Hills in Paynesville and Dacotah Ridge in Morton. According to Schwarz, putting is the best part of his game, He said that reading greens has always been something he has done well.

Schwarz urges anybody thinking about taking up golf to go ahead and give it a try.

“I would say just do it and I also believe because of the pandemic their has been a lot of youth that have gotten into golf recently,” Schwartz said. “So it is really rewarding right now to see the number of kids playing golf and seeing the game grow. More people that go out and enjoy it at an early age will be able to enjoy for many years to come.”