Grand Valley State’s Dynamic Duo
Charles DeLong and Nick Krueger lead a powerful Division II team
By Tom Lang
One is ranked No. 1, the other was just named Player of the Year in Michigan.
Together they make quite the dynamic pair for Grand Valley State University’s men’s golf team.
Charles DeLong of DeWitt is the No. 1 ranked player nationally in Division II golf, after winning three of four D-II events this past fall. He also earned first-team All-America last spring, along with GLIAC Player of the Year and his third NCAA All-Region team.
Teammate Nick Krueger of Spring Lake recently earned the title of GAM Player of the Year – with a big boost coming from winning the Michigan Amateur over the summer.
Both players are in their junior years with the Lakers, with plans to play just one more season after this spring’s league and NCAA schedules conclude.
Krueger has already announced he will turn pro after his amateur career at GVSU concludes.
“Playing the way I did and winning (the 2022 Michigan Amateur) helped get rid of any doubts and the questions like should I try this,” Krueger said about his goals to turn professional. “The list of names on that trophy includes so many golfers who had pretty successful professional careers. That reinforced for me that I was headed in the right direction, and it is something I want to pursue.”
Krueger has earned 2-time all-conference first team so far and has been NCAA All-Region twice as well.
“Nick’s biggest strength is mental toughness,” said GVSU 10-year coach Gary Bissell. “The old cliché of ‘take one shot at a time, stay in the moment.’ That is Nick. You truly cannot tell if he’s at 5-under par, or 5-over. He does a really good job of taking one shot at a time, and not worrying about what just happened and what’s coming up. And he’s got a phenomenal short game on top of it.
“We’ll miss his steadiness,” Bissell added about when Kruger turns professional. “Nick is always there, he’s not a guy you worry about. You know whatever he posts that day is the best he had that day. We see a lot of consistency from him, and his bad rounds are not as bad as a lot of other guys. He doesn’t let things blow up on him.”
DeLong was somewhat under the radar in high school, despite an average score of 70.8 during senior season. But that changed when he grew three inches, from 5-11 to 6-2 his freshman season at Grand Valley and added weight to provide a more powerful punch. Now he dominates D-II in college.
“He looks like a totally different person,” Bissell said. “He’s more emotionally under control than he used to be. And physically he’s matured so much. He hit the weight room very seriously. He went from a boy to a man, quite simply.
“Charles brings the ultimate level of competitiveness, skill; and you hate to say it, but Charles has kind of reached the point that if he doesn’t win, it’s a little bit of a disappointment. But that’s a testament to how good he is. He was so solid for us last year too; I thought he was No. 1 then. I think he is the best player, without question, in Division-II.”
Bissell is hoping for the best this season and next, before each player graduates in spring of 2024.
“Both of these guys are completely irreplaceable,” he said about looking down the road. “We will do the best we can to fill their shoes, and that’s going to take a group effort.
“They’re just two really special players.”
