KARNS CITY — When it came down to his sport of choice, Logan Pistorius wanted something that would stick around for a while.

That's why the Karns City graduate has opted to play golf at Thiel College next season.

“I've been playing golf since I was 6 or 7 years old,” Pistorius said. “I enjoy other sports, too, but golf is something I can do for the rest of my life.”

A four-year letterman in golf for the Gremlins, Pistorius also lettered two years in basketball and a year in baseball. He averaged 44 for nine holes last season.

He becomes the first KC golfer in Steve Andreassi's six-year tenure as the program's coach to move on to the sport in college.

“My goal is to go up there, get in a few matches my freshman year and compete,” Pistorius said. “I just want to continue becoming a better player.

Andreassi has no doubt that will happen.

Karns City played its home matches at St. Jude Golf Club when Pistorius was a freshman. Once that facuility closed, the Gremlins have used Foxburg Country Club as their home base for the past three years.

“St. Jude had a practice facility and Foxburg doesn't have that,” Andreassi said. “It's a great course to play, but it was hard to get in extra practice work there.

“Logan will be practicing every day now. There's a dome up there (at Thiel) and that will be a big factor for him. I know he'll put a ton of work in.”

Pistorius said he plays golf four days at week at Foxburg now as he continues to hone his skills.

Pistorius described his short game and putting as “pretty solid” but admitted to needing to lengthen his drives off the tee.

“That's alweays been the tricky part of the game for me,” he said.

Thiel had two seniors on this year's team. One of them, Jason Thorp, captured the Tomcats' first individual Presidents' Athletic Conference championship since 2000.

As a team, Thiel placed sixth in the PAC Championships during the fall and spring seasons.

The Tomcats' coach is Dan McMillen, assistant PGA pro at Avalon Golf and Country Club in Warren, Ohio. He has been at Thiel for four years and fashioned a 182-101 record in 19 years as golf coach at Greenville High School.

Pistorius, who plans to major in secondary education, also considered Clarion and Westminster before selecting Thiel.

“I liked the campus and everybody I met up there,” he said. “Thiel stood out to me that way.”

Now he's hoping to stand out at Thiel.

“Being a conference champion would be a special thing to do,” he said. “I only hope I can get my game to a level where I could take a shot at something like that.”

Once he graduates from college, Pistorius is hopeful of getting into coaching. The sport doesn't really matter.

“Whatever is open, I'll take,” he said. “I like all sports and I'd love to coach kids in any of them.”

Andreassi — as do other coaches at Karns City — appreciates athletes like Pistorius.

“We're a small school and we need kids like him who can participate in multiple sports,” Andreassi said. “And he excelled in all three.

“He was one of our best defenders in basketball and he's a cerebral player in baseball. He's that way in golf, too. His intellectual approach helps him navigate a golf course and it would help him in coaching as well. He's the guy always asking questions. As an athlete, he's like having another coach on the field.

“His best attribute as a golfer? He quickly forgets about a bad shot and re-focuses for the next one. That's big in this game,” Andreassi added.