Luke McGhie
PERSONAL – Luke is single with no kids and lives in Roseville, California. He works for a small cyber-security firm. His grandpa tried to convince him to play golf when he was a kid but opted to play other sports instead. He’s now trying to get back into it. No better way for that than a big buddies tournament in Arizona!
TIE TO THE MONTEMAR – Luke is one of the older brothers of Drew McGhie and I met Luke kind of the same way I met Drew. For the sake of not having to rewrite the entire paragraph, please revert back to Drew’s bio to see how Luke ended up in this field for the Montemar. Drew moved up this way first and I assume that had some sort of impact in Luke moving to Roseville as well. Luke is a super chill guy and a great contribution to the Montemar!
ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MONTEMAR – Nothing yet but I’ve got a feeling he’ll come up with something cool for a prize.
WHAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN IN 2023 – Luke and Drew were late additions to last year’s Montemar and due to prior obligations were only able to play the final round. They came in on fire and won the 2-man better ball portion of the day. While most of this was due to little brother’s fantastic round, Luke came through on the back 9, and the duo ended up using his scores on the 14th, 15th, and 16th holes. I’ve never played with Luke, but looking at last year’s card, I’m guessing the wider fairways in the desert are going to be a pleasant site compared to the tree lined fairways at Darkhorse. If he can turn the doubles into singles and the singles into pars, combined with a nice scramble team, Luke should find a way to be in the running come Sunday.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN 2023 – Luke did more than just turn doubles into singles, he stepped up on the first hole of the 2023 Montemar and made the stadium hole his bitch, carding a 2, and hearing the applause from all the drunken and screaming fans. Perhaps he got hit in the head by a flying bottle, because the rest of the round didn’t go as planned, and at the end of the day Luke ended up putting a 117 on the card. The final round was a bit better but Luke still came home with a big number. All that said, the man drafted like the sport’s wizard he is, picking up Tim Wat with the steal of the draft. His random pairings worked out well also and Luke finished the 2023 Classic in 15th place.
WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN 2024 – Golf is a game of streaks and Luke needs to figure out how to get on a good one. When you open a tournament with a birdie on one of the most famous holes in golf, you would expect a quality run to follow, but Luke followed up his deuce with an 8 on a 300 yard par 4 and two holes later defied the quad max rule by carding a 10 on the straightforward 1st. Safety first, my friend – Eliminate the big numbers! Luke needs to find danger from the tee box then do everything in his power to avoid it. He’s going to draft well, he’s going to have a blast, but will he come to the realization that he doesn’t always have to go for it? Same as in 2023, if Luke can find a way to turn those triples into doubles and doubles into singles, there’s no reason to think he can’t pull out a top ten finish in 2024.
ODDS TO WIN – 98-1
FUN FACT – It feels like I’ve met about 16 McGhie brothers. There may only be 3 or 5 or 8, but it seems that every time I see the guys there’s a new brother around. Great guys and fun to talk sports with!
MONTEMARS PLAYED – 2 (2022 – SACRAMENTO, 2023 - SCOTTSDALE)
MONTEMAR ROUNDS PLAYED – 4 (2022 – DARKHORSE, 2023 – TPC SCOTSDALE/TS O’ODHAAM/TS PIIPAASH)
LIFETIME POINT TOTAL – 319.5
JACKETS WON – 0
TOP 3 FINISHES – 0
TOP 5 FINISHES – 0
TOP 10 FINISHES – 0
RECORDS – 0
TOURNAMENT HANDICAP - 46
INVITED BY – Drew McGhie
PLAYERS INVITED - 0
PRIZES DONATED – Luke will come through with something cool.
