Badgering: Griffin Barela
April 11, 2018 | Men's Golf, Andy Baggot, Varsity Magazine
Freshman men’s golfer shares what he learned in a breakthrough win, teammate he admires and why he chose Wisconsin
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Griffin Barela, a freshman from Lakewood, Colorado, recently did something unusual on behalf of the Wisconsin men's golf team. He earned medalist honors at the D.A. Weibring Intercollegiate in Normal, Illinois, becoming the first Badgers golfer to win an individual tournament championship since 2009. He earned it, too, teeing off in wintry, 26-degree conditions, carding a 4-over-par, 217 total that helped the Badgers to a second-place finish. Barela grew up loving baseball, but eventually embraced golf when he was 12. One of four freshmen on the 10-man roster, he sat down recently to talk about his breakthrough win, the UW student-athlete he admires and his "welcome to college" moment.
To win your first tournament with the Badgers you had to deal with some nasty conditions. Was your biggest challenge physical or mental?
"Definitely more of a mental challenge. It's not very often that you golf in those conditions. It was not a lot of fun playing in that cold and snow. The biggest challenge was just keeping my hands warm. It was 26 degrees when we teed off for the second round."
Did you learn anything about yourself during that experience?
"I thought I could play well in those conditions, but I'd never done it before. It was proving to myself that I could do it. I've handled conditions similar to that in the past, but nothing that extreme."
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— Wisconsin Men's Golf (@BadgerMGolf) April 1, 2018
What's your best golf moment?
"Just qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur two years ago. That was my first big tournament win. I'd just been improving, but I wasn't all that good up until then. That proved to me I could compete with the best players."
Why Wisconsin?
"They were involved in the recruiting process as soon as they could be. Once I visited here I fell in love with the campus. The coaches were awesome and the team atmosphere was really fun and I wanted to be a part of it."
Any cultural adjustments?
"Not so much to Wisconsin. More so to the whole college life and how much of an adjustment that is from high school. I have so much free time. In high school you go from 8 (a.m.) to 3 (p.m.) and then practice. Here you have two or three hours of classes a day and practice. You have to be able to spend your time wisely."
Have you had a "welcome to college" moment?
"I got lost quite a bit the first week I was here."
Is there a teammate's skill set you'd trade for?
"I'd trade for the power Jordan (Hahn) has. He just hits the ball so much farther than me and it's hard to compete with it."
Is there a UW student-athlete you admire?
"Eddie Wadja, a senior on the team. He works so hard at everything, especially school and how he handled the fall (season), struggling, but was able to put himself back in the lineup this spring."
Can you describe the culture on your team?
"Just fun. They're probably my nine best friends here. We spend a lot of time together and it's just a lot of fun to be around them."
Is there a Wisconsin student-athlete you'd like to trade places with for a day?
"(UW football tailback) Jonathan Taylor. He was such a national star, fifth in the Heisman (voting), and to see what it's like to walk around with everybody knowing your face. It might get really old, but it would be cool for a day."
Players Mentioned
