Irish get a kick out of walk-on

Associated Press

SOUTH BEND, IND.

The days of breaking golf clubs in frustration are behind David Ruffer. You could say he’s kicked that bad habit.

The discipline he learned when he was standout prep golfer in Washington, D.C., — he still has a 4- or 5- handicap — has helped him on his new field as Notre Dame’s placekicker.

So far, the transfer student and walk-on who once kicked in dormitory football games on campus has been perfect on field goals. Stretching back to last season, the strong-legged Ruffer is 16 for 16, the most consecutive field goals in Notre Dame history.

“I had much higher expectations for golf for some reason than I ever did with football. I couldn’t tell you why,” said Ruffer, who didn’t play prep football.

“I broke a few clubs in my day. I don’t miss breaking the clubs because that got expensive, but hitting a good drive on a long par-5 was a cool feeling. But making field goals, that feels pretty good, too.”

Ruffer took over as place-kicker when Nick Tausch was injured last season and went 5 for 5 over the final three games. He said the similarities between golfing and kicking are fairly obvious.

“The biggest thing is that you have to stay focused on every single shot or kick. Obviously there are great kickers who were never golfers, but for me that’s what I take from it the most,” he said. “You can’t take a play off. You can’t take a shot off.”

The 6-foot-1, 176-pound Ruffer beat out Tausch in preseason camp to be the place-kicker this year and hasn’t missed in 11 tries. Tausch had set the school record by making 14 straight last season. Ruffer took the record away with a 50-yarder against Pitt last week for No. 15, drilling the longest kick of his career despite a low snap.

“I was just really a perfectionist. Now I’ve grown up to the point where I understand that things aren’t always going to go your way,” he said.