Finishing What They Started
MOORHEAD, Minn. --- His approach is simple - yet meticulous in nature - and imperative in his routine.
Cade Montplaisir lines up directly behind every ball before he swings. If he doesn't he worries that his feet will line up incorrectly or his shot will be off target.
He approaches every stroke the same way. The ball lies as is. Just play it.
That's Montplaisir's approach to this year's MIAC meet.
Last year the Arizona native entered the final day of the conference tournament with the lead after shooting 73 and 70 in the tournament's first two rounds. He slipped on the third day as he shot 77 and had to settle with a tie for third place.
All-Conference? Sure.
Conference champion? No.
The Dobson High School (Mesa, Arizona) product will look to cement his family legacy in Concordia golf lore this weekend.
Montplaisir had options out of high school but ultimately chose Concordia over schools from Arizona and Minnesota as well as Colorado State.
He took a visit to St. John's and quickly decided it wasn't the place for him. His grandmother resides in Fargo so being a Cobber seemed like the right fit.
You wouldn't know it by observing his intricate, yet conversational, laid-back style of play but Montplaisir has only been playing the game since his sophomore year of high school.
He was a big baseball player growing up but in Arizona but became burned out because of the year-round nature of the sport in the warmer climate.
Turns out – swinging a baseball bat doesn't differ that much from a swinging a club.
Just a different plane, according to Montplaisir.
Though he's only been playing competitively for the last six years, he possesses a wily craft on the course that is both focused but chatty and relaxed at the same time.
He doesn't take a lot of time on his swing. He knows what he wants to do when he approaches the ball.
Montplaisir also prefers to be the last person to his ball.
He likely knows the lie but will circle in the opposite direction through brush and the woods if need be because he just wants to reach it last, dial up his shot and swing away.
Golf is a game he was meant to play.
Not because of his natural swing.
Not due to his mental approach.
It's in his blood.
Montplaisir is the nephew of Kris (Elton) Montplaisir '81 whose golfing career landed her a spot in the Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame.
Elton, a '96 inductee, turned in her best performance in her last career event. She shot a 316 (85-79-75-77) in the 1981 AIAW Division-III Women's Golf Championship.
The performance not only landed her on the All-American team but her scores were good enough to be crowned National Champion.
Montplaisir came to Concordia to continue on that legacy. If you want to know how embedded the family roots are in Cobber tradition, just walk through the Knutson Campus Center and the family's roots stares you right in the eye.
Elton's grandfather was the Chocolate Man – Joseph Knutson – forever immortalized in clad bronze sculpture form.
Montplaisir won't get himself a statue this weekend at the conference tournament, but the senior intends on finishing what he started.
"The only pressure is on yourself. You just need to focus on every shot and not look too far down the road because you can only control what you do," said Montplaisir.
This weekend he plans to shove all the pressures of his potential final golf tournament and family legacy aside and just trust the process.
"When I got here as a freshman I wasn't that good. But it's all a process and what you put into it. When others are on the course for three hours I'm out there for four. We just have to go play and see what happens."
Written by Sports Information Intern Austin Hawkins