Michigan Golf Journal May 2020

Stranded in USA U-M Golfer Thriving in Difficult Times By Steve Kornacki (reprinted with permission of MGoBlue.com, first published April 9) His family is in Europe, located an ocean and parts of two continents away from the University of Michigan. Wolverine men’s golfer Pier Francesco De Col was raised in Turin, which is called Torino in Italy, before coming abroad to compete and study in Michigan. And he now finds himself, along with a handful of other European born U-M student-athletes, temporarily separated from their loved ones because of traveling restrictions and difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Others include women’s tennis player Giulia Pairone, also from Turin, and football defensive lineman Julius Welschof, who hails from Miesbach, a town in Bavaria, Germany. De Col is making the best of matters and finding ways to thrive in difficult times, including taking online classes and doing his best to stay in good physical condition. He is staying in the West Quad, one of the few remaining in the usually hustling-and-bustling dormitory located a short walk from the main athletic campus. Continues on next page >>