Loris Schüpbach recently departed KeNako Academy. We wish Loris well in his future life. We share herewith a profile on Loris, who will be attending university in Scotland from September this year.
Loris Schüpbach – “I would like to be golf professional; I would like to play golf forever.”
Loris Schüpbach is a 20 year old Swiss national. He joined the academy for the first time in 2015 and over the next 18 months he returned to train at KeNako three times. He is trilingual, speaking German, French and English. At a young age he started playing tennis and once whilst on holiday, it was his tennis coach whom invited him to a friendly game of golf. He fell in love with the sport and he now aspires to follow in the footsteps of Rory McIlroy. He admires Rory for his attitude on the golf course.
His golf journey started at Golf Park Nuolen, the first golf club he joined. A fond memory for him is the first club competition he competed in, where he received his first handicap of 35.5. For the last 6 years golf has become his passion and drive in life and his dedication is paying off. Loris recently competed in the SA Amateur tournament and made it to the semi-finals of the Matchplay Championship, an outstanding achievement. Loris hopes to be selected for Switzerland in the upcoming European Team Championships in July and he is working hard to attain his goal. Being fit is a part of the game and Loris follows a rigorous exercise program, training in the gym 4 – 6 times a week for approximately an hour and a half. He is on the golf course at least 6 times per week, spending between 3 – 8 hours per day on the game, depending on whether he is practising or playing a course.
With The Links golf course, which neighbours KeNako Academy, being ranked 43rd in the top 100 golf courses in the world, it is his favourite local course to play. Loris stated that it was the most challenging course he has ever played and appreciates the historic background. The golf course at the top of his wish list to play is Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, America, where The Masters is played every year. The club that Loris most enjoys is his putter, feeling that it is the club that produces the most consistent results in his game.
Loris was recommended to attend KeNako Academy by his golf coach in Switzerland. He has enjoyed the golfing program and feels it is highly organised, allowing for sufficient time for the short and long game practices as well as focusing on the all-round aspects of the game. In his opinion the coaches are amazing. “Roger is great because of his own experience and he helped my game a lot.” Loris enjoyed the facilities, the gym and feels that all of his needs were met.
He grew a tight bond with his peers and built a close bond with most of the students, saying that they feel like family, which helped him not to feel too “home sick.” He is leaving the academy to play in key tournaments in Switzerland and he then departs for the University of Sterling in Scotland, hopefully after having represented Switzerland in the European Team Championships. Loris has enrolled to study Economics and Maths. He chose Sterling University because he can combine his golf and studies, which is not currently an option for him in Switzerland. Loris is thinking about returning to KeNako Academy during his holidays, but is saddened by the fact that it can only be for a short period of time, because of the commitment his studies will require.
Hamba kahle Loris – we look forward to seeing you again in the not too distant future!