New Zealand's Compton Pikari brings island flair to Dixie State
Compton Pikari traveled halfway around the world to play golf in Southern Utah.
Born and raised in New Zealand – home of the world famous All Blacks rugby team, Pikari became an accomplished golfer on his New Zealand National Academy squad. After graduating high school early, Pikari started playing in tournaments throughout the world before deciding that he wanted to further his education and experience the college lifestyle.
Pikari was recruited by BYU, Iowa State among many others Division I schools, but decided to start his journey at Dixie State University in sunny St. George.
“I was lucky to get in touch with Coach Sutterfield and he helped me get here,” Pikari said. “I love it here and the courses are so good.”
One of the main reasons why Pikari chose Dixie State was the opportunity to play golf on a year-round basis. But little did he know at that time that St. George wasn’t exactly the Hawaiian Islands.
After his 24-hour flight from New Zealand to Las Vegas, before taking a bus up to St. George, Pikari made quite the impression when he stepped out wearing his sandals, shorts and a tank top this past January.
“We joke about it all the time,” Dixie State head coach Brad Sutterfield said smiling. “When I saw him in his sandals and shorts I was like ‘yes we’re able to golf on a year-round basis, but you might want to bundle up a bit.’”
“I’ll never forget that day. But in my defense, I left right in the middle of summer in New Zealand,” Pikari joked. “Luckily I had a hoodie that I could throw on so it wasn’t bad.”
Landing such an accomplished golfer was a big victory for the Red Storm golf program as it looks to repeat as PacWest champions this year. But at the same time, there are still several challenges both Pikari and Sutterfield are trying to sort out with the NCAA.
Because Pikari graduated early and started playing in tournaments in the United States, the NCAA not only made Pikari sit out a year before he could start playing but also gave him just one year of eligibility to play at the collegiate level.
“After he graduated high school and started playing in tournaments, the NCAA started his clock. And because he arrived in the middle of the season, he technically only gets this one semester,” Sutterfield explained. “We’re still waiting to hear back from the NCAA about it, but we’re hoping he gets some time back because he’s certainly deserving of it.”
While Pikari and Coach Sutterfield won’t likely receive word on the eligibility issue after the spring season is over, the New Zealander has enjoyed his time at DSU and experiencing the college lifestyle.
“I love it here, but the biggest thing is getting used to the food and the climate,” Pikari explained. “Growing up, I lived near the beach so I’m used to going surfing and that kind of stuff. The desert is definitely different, but I like it now. I also love how there is so much that you can do. You can go anywhere and find really cool things to do.”
While Pikari was getting used to his new surroundings, his classmates were busy getting used to his accent.
“The first day of school was pretty rough for me because nobody could understand what I was saying. But it’s a lot better now. The girls sure love it, which is always a good thing,” Pikari said smiling.
And when he isn’t charming the ladies, the New Zealander continues to dazzle his teammates and coaches out on the links.
During his first collegiate event in February, Pikari had a top-5 finish in the SUU Pat Hicks Invitational at Sunbrook Golf Club against a majority of Division I schools.
“It didn’t surprise me to see him play that well. He has a lot of talent and has so much potential,” Sutterfield said. “To do that in his first collegiate tournament was fun to see and for him to take part in that college experience.”
For his top-5 finish, Pikari was named the PacWest golfer of the week after leading the Storm to a second-place finish.
“I was pretty comfortable heading into the tournament, and I was just glad that I could play well for my team,” Pikari said. “It was cool that we finished at the top and against a number of schools that were bigger than us.”
With the amount of success that Pikari has brought to the program, Coach Sutterfield admitted that he wouldn’t mind bringing in some more international players.
“Compton is the only guy that we’ve had out of the United States and he definitely opened our eyes. As much as I would love to do some recruiting visits over there, the plane ticket alone would likely break our budget,” Sutterfield joked.
Nicklaus Britt, who starred at Dixie high school last year, is one of Compton’s roommates and has enjoyed the culture and love of the game that Pikari has brought with him.
“We love having Compton on the team,” Britt said. “He’s talented and has been a huge benefit to our team. It’s been fun having him as a roommate, although he can be a clean freak sometimes,” Britt said jokingly.
With his goal to play on the PGA Tour, Pikari got some words of encouragement from Coach Sutterfield, who played professionally for 15 years.
“Compton has all of the tools to play professionally,” Sutterfield said. “The biggest thing is having that mental toughness and if he continues to work on his game, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him make it.”
Follow Justin Giles on Twitter @Justingiles22 or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JustinGilesSportsWriter.
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