By Marlon Villa
After receiving the No. 1 men’s golfer in the country title according to Golf State, Ian Gilligan adds this to his list of accomplishments in his short career.
Coming off of receiving the 2022 Freshman of the Year title, Gilligan helped lead his team to a championship at the Nick Watney Invitational, where he was awarded the individual title.
Being a sophomore and business major at Long Beach State, Gilligan feels that everything that he’s accomplished at this point is the result of his hard work.
“It feels pretty good, obviously I’ve been playing really well recently, so it’s really nice to see the results come and obviously getting the award is always really nice,” Gilligan said.
Being part of the men’s golf team at LBSU motivates Gilligan to keep improving each day, as he wants to play better for the team aspect.
Training has become a big role in Gilligan’s life. He trains three to four days a week with his team. When he practices alone, he spends six hours a day on the golf course.
These milestones have been sort of a surprise to him, as Gilligan had some struggled at the beginning of the season.
“I didn’t expect this to happen so quickly, I’ve put in a lot of time, so I expect to play at a certain level, but having it all happen so quickly is pretty cool to see,” Gilligan said.
Gilligan’s golf journey started at the age of two. He saw his dad take out a bucket of balls out of his closet and saw him hit balls every now and then, it fascinated Gillian.
After going to the golfing range a couple of times with his dad, he quickly fell in love with golf.
The first event he participated in was at the age of five in San Diego at the Junior World Golf Championship and from then on, as Gilligan lived in San Francisco, he played many local Northern California events when he was seven until he was 12.
“Trying to become the best golfer I can be whether that’s the best golfer in the world or whatever it is,” Gilligan said.
Gilligan pictures himself participating in The PGA tour, one of the main professional golfing tournaments in the United States and North America.
“For number one, I just want to be the best I can be and hopefully that’s on the PGA tour,” Gilligan said.
