By Colleen O’Connell
There was a time when Lauri Hacklin thought he would be returning to his native Finland sooner than what he hoped for.
Hacklin came to the United States in August. 2012 as an exchange student and had an opportunity to stay at the Darlington School in Rome, Ga., to finish high school. He also got a very late start in the college recruiting process.
“I was graduating in 2014, and in early March of that year, I was going to give up and go home. Then the coach at Central Alabama sent me an email and set up a visit. I loved it. They had a beautiful course,” said Hacklin.
However, Central Alabama Community College was not the only place Hacklin had his eye on during that spring. He had already thought about playing for Coastal Georgia.
“Brian Albertson, who is the head pro as Coosa Country Club in Rome, knows Coach Cook really well,” explained Hacklin. “We were thinking of different places to go, and Brian said Coastal Georgia would be a great place. I probably wouldn’t have known about Coastal Georgia without Brian. I was going to try and come straight out of high school, but I was late in the process, and Coach Cook already had the team set.”
After completing his two years at Central Alabama, Hacklin was back to weighing his options. Among those was the place he had his eye in 2014 – Coastal Georgia.
Now four years after deciding to stay in the United States for college, Hacklin will return home to Pori, Finland with several academic and athletic accomplishments. He graduates on Sunday, May 13 with a degree in business from the College of Coastal Georgia. He’s been recognized as a leader of Coastal Georgia’s nationally-ranked men’s golf team. And on April 30, Hacklin earned the Coastal Georgia Athletic Department’s most prestigious honor – 2018 Coastal Georgia Student-Athlete of the Year.
“It’s unreal and amazing. It’s a huge honor. Seeing some of those accomplishments, there is so much talent our department has,” said Hacklin, who was voted as this year’s male recipient by the athletic department’s head coaches and administration.
Hacklin’s leadership has been evident throughout the 2017-18 campaign as the Mariners have already won four tournaments – two in the fall and two in the spring – and defeated a pair of NCAA foes to capture a Tri-Match victory.
“Lauri makes suggestions to his teammates on how they should play and prepare for certain courses,” said eighth-year head coach Mike Cook. “He sort of coaches them by not dictating to them. He is the first to arrive at practice and workouts and the last to leave. Our guys notice it.”
Hacklin will not be able to participate in Coastal Georgia’s Commencement Ceremony on May 13, but he has a very good reason for missing it. He will be among the Mariner contingent traveling to Illinois to play for a NAIA Men’s Golf National Championship at TPC Deere Run. Out of the five golfers scheduled to tee off for Coastal Georgia, Hacklin is the only one who played at TPC Deere Run during last year’s NAIA National Championships.
“We have a lot of individual talent with this team. It’s just a matter of pairing four, five scores together at the same tournament. I hope we can put it together at nationals. We have nothing to lose; we just need to play the game,” said Hacklin. “The course last year played tough. You don’t have to go low, but you can’t make too many mistakes. Steady play will take you far, especially if you have 4 or 5 players that can do it.”
Golf will have to take a slight backseat after the national tournament. In Finland, all males over the age of 18 are required to serve in the military for at least six months. Hacklin reports to basic training in early-to-mid July.
“It’s required for six months. I have to get that done, and hopefully, sooner than later,” said Hacklin.
For the meantime though, the focus is on the national tournament.
“It’s been great at Coastal Georgia,” said Hacklin. “It’s bittersweet to leave, but I’m excited for the future. Hopefully, we can bring the national championship trophy back to where it belongs. Thank you to my teachers, the athletics staff, Coach Cook and my teammates. Go Mariners.”
This story was originally published on CoastalGeorgiaSports.com.