University of South Dakota Athletics

The Vining brothers have never strayed very far from the game of golf and in doing so they've never strayed too far from each other. And that's the way they want it.
 
John is the head coach of the University of South Dakota men's golf team. Tommy is one of his best golfers. Together they've negotiated their way through three seasons with the Coyotes, not to mention every day of Tommy's life.
 
John, who is seven years Tommy's senior, took on an assistant coaching role under former coach Nick Hovden shortly after graduating from USD in 2013. One of his hobbies during that time was caddying for Tommy, a two-time state high school champion from Lincoln High School who got on-course counsel from John during summer amateur tournaments.
 
The younger Vining began his college career at the University of Minnesota. After a year of that he decided USD, where his older brother was an assistant and a graduate, was a better option for the final three years of his eligibility.
 
The fact that John was involved in the program – and would later become the head coach – was an attribute, not a deterrent. In the world filled of sibling rivalries and feuds, the Vinings get along very well bolstered by mutual respect that goes way, way back.
 
"He knows my game and he knows who I am," said Tommy, a two-time first-team All-Summit performer who was the conference player of the year in 2017-18. "I can talk to him about anything and trust what he tells me. Aside from my golf game, he knows what gets me going pretty well – he knows how to motivate me. When you go to college you're with a new head coach who might have watched you play just a few times. It's not like that with Johnny, who has seen me play my whole life."


 
Like his brother, John knew when he took the head coaching job that he'd be inheriting a situation that some would find a little uncomfortable. But he knew his brother and that made all the difference.
 
"It was a pretty smooth transition because we'd already had a relationship with golf on the competitive side," John said. "It was more about the excitement of sharing this experience together. We wanted to take the home state program to the next level."
 
Because of the age difference, the pair did not start out as golfing equals. Tommy, the first-grader, was not beating John the middle-schooler, for instance. But it didn't take long for Tommy, short of stature but a long hitter, to close the gap.
 
"I remember when I was golfing in college and Tommy was playing high school golf as an eighth-grader," John said. "I'd get those phone calls after meets where he'd ask me how I played but really all he wanted to do was tell me how he played. I remember those phone calls pretty dang good. He was always working really hard. He just couldn't get enough of golf."
 

Doin a #tbt bc this picture of @tvine5 is classic. It was 15 years ago. Photo credit to @JCimburek pic.twitter.com/4MbR6ACtTm

— John Vining (@John_ViningSD) September 25, 2015

 
By the time Tommy was a sophomore in high school he was hitting the ball as far as his brother, if not farther. John, about to enter into coaching college golf, knew young talent when he saw it and understood a paradigm shift was coming in their competitive relationship.
 
That didn't prevent him from trying to preserve an edge that, once gone, was likely long gone.
 
"I knew I needed to find other ways, other than talent, to beat him," John said. "There might be little chirps here and there – little subtle things to get in his head. The only way to take him down in a head-to-head match was to try to build something in his head."

Lots of practice over the years, @tvine5 ! Believe in it! #goodluck pic.twitter.com/bzvaySlguR

— John Vining (@John_ViningSD) June 3, 2014

 
As Tommy alluded to, his brother knows how he ticks. And by now there is probably not anything short of a bear hug in the backswing that is going to keep the younger Vining from getting the best of John.
But they're well beyond that kind of thinking these days.
 
"I remember as a kid trying to follow in his footsteps," Tommy said. "And it was not just in sports. He was someone I really looked up to. I talk to him about everything. All the good and all the struggles.
 
We're hoping all the patience pays off next week."
 
Next week is the Summit League conference meet in Newton, Kan., which begins on Sunday and goes through Tuesday. With four golfers – Tate Arends, Matt Tolan, Vining and Scott Fudenberg -- averaging under 75 strokes a round, the Coyotes have to be considered a contender in the battle for a team championship.
 
Tommy will be one of several within his family tree to take on golfing tests like the one that begins next week. His grandfather Tom Egan is in the South Dakota Golf Hall of Fame, as is his aunt Jane, who played on the LPGA Tour. His dad Rich Vining played collegiately at Texas Pan-American. It also played a role in the courtship of his dad and his mother Debbie.
 
"Golf brought a lot of family gatherings together for us," John said. "We've been around it competitively and in the family environment as well … Honestly when you look at it, without the game of golf, we probably don't exist, so we're pretty thankful for it."