Like Father, Like Son
By Mark Cochran
ATHENS, GEORGIA – The University of Georgia (UGA) golf team begins its 2017-2018 season with a new captain. Gathering together at the first meeting, everybody on the team is given a piece of paper and told to write down their choice. Afterwards the players put the scraps of paper into a hat and the person with the most votes becomes captain for the year.
This spot is primarily reserved for a senior but this season turned out differently. Jack Larkin Jr., a junior from Atlanta, became the new captain and has proven to be a good choice.
“He’s been very good,” said Spencer Ralston a sophomore on the UGA golf team. “He’s got a plan for everything so that helps us stay in line, especially with some of the younger kids.”
Larkin Jr. instills a level of leadership that has permeated throughout the entire team and offers the younger players a role model to look up to as they begin their college career. Always an encourager, he leads by example and has the maturity to stay focused on what needs to be done.
Larkin Jr.’s success at Georgia comes as no surprise. Two of his most important mentors are rooted in the school. His father, Jack Larkin Sr., and his coach Chris Haack.
Larkin Jr. learned the game from his father who played on the UGA golf team, was captain his senior year and went on to play professionally. Larkin Sr. also has a strong connection to Haack and was a key element in getting him hired. He knew Haack from when he was younger and when the previous UGA coach stepped down he went to the search committee, many of whom he knew, and said they should take a look at Chris Haack. They did, loved him and he has been coach ever since.
“Haack’s continued to be that guy that is the leader,” said Larkin Sr. “And Jack has always looked up to
him as the leader.”
When Larkin Jr. plays he keeps his emotions to himself. His goal is to maintain his focus throughout the match and not fall into the highs or lows. This is a skill he has displayed for much of his life but a lesson that was not easily learned.
When Larkin Jr. was 15 or 16 he was playing a match against his father. Leading by four strokes with only four holes to play he started acting cocky, like he knew he was going to win. He imploded on the final holes and his father won. Afterwards Larkin Sr. took him aside and told his son that the match was won but he started thinking about the win instead of focusing on each hole. That stuck with Larkin Jr. and became a significant step forward in his rise in both golf and as a leader.
“He kind of keeps me grounded,” said Larkin Jr. on his relationship with his father. “In a sense of ‘hey we want you to go out and we want you to do extremely well [and] we want you to put forth the work, but remember it’s just a game and there is more to life than just golf.’”
Larkin Jr.’s ability to have a plan is one aspect within his leadership that stands out. When he was young his father saw dedication and focus in his son. These qualities would morph into leadership as he matured and it showed when he was in high school.
Playing at Marist High School (Marietta, Georgia) for five years Larkin Jr. had four different golf coaches. Before his senior season a new coach, Matt Romano, took over and quickly became aware of who was the leader on the team.
“[Larkin Jr.] came strolling into my classroom,” said Romano. “And had a list of things to be done. He had taken it upon himself to come to me and say, ‘OK coach here’s what needs to happen.’”
One thing was to play in more tournaments during the season to better prepare players for college. Romano agreed, it was implemented that year and continues to this day at Marist.
Even with his abilities on the course life after college remains a mystery for Larkin Jr. He has aspirations of playing professionally but is unsure if that is the right choice. When a game becomes one’s source of income the risk of burnout increases which is something his father experienced.
“Once he started playing for a living he started grinding a little bit too much,” said Larkin Jr. about his father. “It became this end-all-be-all of having to play well and that drove him away from the game and that’s something he’s really tried to harp on me. You’ve got to be careful not to drive yourself away from the game.”
If he doesn’t go pro in golf he is looking at the business world. He spent this past summer interning at SunTrust Bank in Atlanta. But even if the professional level isn’t for him he plans on continuing to play the game he loves for as long as he can.