While the Lucas brothers are physically far apart nowadays, they remain close, partly because of their successes in bass fishing and golf.
Justin Lucas, 29, the oldest of three boys, is enjoying a great year on the Bassmaster Elite Series, winning his first title and making every cut.
Similarly, youngest brother Kevin, 26, is making great strides in golf. On June 8, Kevin, who’s been playing the West Coast mini tours since graduating from the University of Nevada, earned a spot in this week’s U.S. Open at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.
With one brother excelling in pro fishing – Justin is No. 1 in BassFan rankings and second in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings – and another competing in one of the golf’s four majors, the Lucas boys are having a big year. See photos.
“Yeah, not bad,” Justin said. “I just couldn’t be any more proud of him for how hard he’s been working, just putting everything aside the last few years and focusing 110 percent on golf. That’s what he needed to do and it’s paying off.”
Kevin’s score
Justin was watching Kevin’s progress online Monday from his home in Guntersville, Ala., constantly refreshing to see his score on each hole. It’s the same thing Kevin does with BASSTrakk when Justin fishes.
“I was glued to my computer all day, updating his scorecard like crazy,” Justin said. “He says his battery dies watching me fish, and my battery dies watching him golf.”
Justin knew Kevin was doing well with the low score of 68 in his morning round at Big Canyon. He was behind three others, but they had played the easier Newport Beach course. Justin said he really started to get excited when Kevin began his second round well.
“Those next 18 holes, that course was playing a bit easier and he was birdieing everything,” Justin said. “Once he got through about seven or eight holes, I was like, ‘This is about to happen.’”
Kevin shot a 66 for a 134 total, tops among the 112 competitors at the sectional, one of 12 in the U.S., England and Japan. Qualifying him puts him in rare company as one of 58 golfers advancing to the U.S. Open, which is marking its 115th year.
“As soon as he got done with his round, before it even punched it into his scorecard for the last hole, he called,” Justin said. “He was emotional on the phone. He’s been following me so closely, and we share so much how everything is going on between us. I knew the position he was in because I was in it just a few weeks ago.”
A family affair
Justin had a homecoming at the Sacramento Bassmaster Elite, where his family and friends saw him fish familiar places and win his first tournament. That was a short trip for Kevin and middle brother, Joe, 27, but Kevin also went to the Greenville, S.C., and saw Justin finish ninth in his first Classic.
Now it’s Justin’s turn to join Kevin’s entourage at the Seattle area links-style golf course. Justin said he’s already booked his flight and plans to walk the course alongside his brother. It will be another family reunion of sorts.
“We do a lot of things together, even though I live a long ways from them. It’s a good deal. It’s a lot of fun,” said Justin, whose move split the brothers up. “It did a little bit, but at the same time it really makes us appreciate the time we do get to spend together. We still see each other several times throughout the year.”
Justin said that it’s kind of strange how close the brothers are now. Fighting dominated their childhood growing up in Folsom, Calif.
“The funny thing is, we used to fight so much,” Justin said, “and our mother used to say, ‘You guys will love each other one day.’ We’d say, ‘Yeah right, we’re going to hate each other forever.’ As soon as we started graduating from high school, we all got really tight.”
(Justin said they quit any fisticuffs with Joe – he went on to become an Army Ranger and MMA fighter – when the bulkier brother turned 13.)
Mental toughness
Kevin and Justin often talk on the phone about their competitions. They’ll discuss what it will take to make cuts, both on the course and on the water. They agree that their chosen sports require a degree of mental fortitude, but argue on which demands more.
“The biggest similarity is being mentally tough,” Justin said. “I played a few other sports, from what I’ve seen from golf and professional bass fishing, you have to be as tough mentally as anything out there.
“I think you have to have more patience in golf, and he’s like, ‘There’s no way,’ because he’s been out there watching me fish the Classic and Sacramento, and swears that I’ve got the most patience that he’s ever seen out of anyone. That’s a trait you have to have fishing or else you’ll spin yourself out. Same with golf. If you’re not patient and get ahead of yourself, you’re going to shoot some bad rounds.”
The brothers helped form each other’s lives. Justin said Kevin might not have pushed him into fishing, but he sure made him quit golf. On his first round of golf at 13, Kevin whooped Justin.
“If this guy already beat me his first time out and he’s two years younger than me, maybe this isn’t what I need to be doing,” Justin said. “I pretty much started focusing on fishing after that.”
And he’s done well in fishing, as Kevin has with golf, and never the twain shall meet. Justin’s brothers don’t fish much, but Kevin got the bug after the Classic and has been several times for fun. A golf outing for Justin is rare, simply for fun or “to donate to Chris Lane’s bank account. It just eats into my fishing time.”