Jim Meehan: Former Mt. Spokane standout golfer Gunnar Knutson back in the swing at Weber State

Gunnar Knutson loves telling the story about one of his lowest moments in golf swiftly transforming into one of his best.

It involves a messy finish to a 77, a shattered Sharpie, sobbing, a short nap, a series of texts from buddies and a world record attitude adjustment from hanging up his soft spikes to embracing golf again. It’s one of several defining moments in recent years that helped the former Mt. Spokane High standout rekindle his love for the game as he produces career-best scores as a senior at Weber State.

First, some background is necessary.

Knutson was a four-time, first-team Greater Spokane League selection and the 2018 GSL Player of the Year. He hit a major speed bump as a senior when one particularly steep swing at impact sent jolts of pain through his back and legs.

It was the beginning of recurring back issues that limited his chances of cracking Weber State’s lineup for the better part of three seasons. It also left him pondering if golf was in his future when he teed it up at a Washington State Amateur qualifier last June at Kalispel Golf and Country Club.

Knutson was in solid position before a bogey, bogey, bogey finish for a 5-over 77. Thinking he was on the wrong side of the qualifying number, he went home in a bad mood.

“I’m sitting there, I’m so mad, I took a Sharpie out of my pocket and threw it as hard as I could against the wall,” Knutson said. “It exploded, ink everywhere. I went to my bed and I’ll be honest, I cried, just thinking, ‘How am I going to tell my parents and my coach I’m going to quit golf.’ ”

He drifted off to sleep, waking up to text messages from friends telling him he might be in a playoff, thanks to deteriorating weather conditions while he snoozed. He raced back to the course and qualified when another player made a late bogey to shoot 78.

“I had felt for so long, somebody, the man upstairs was telling me it was time for something else, and I believed it at that point,” Knutson recalled. “Watching the pen explode, watching my self-wallowing, I think I was told, ‘It’s not time yet,’ and it wasn’t. I parlayed that into the best summer I’ve had. And I was one shot away from likely not being here (playing his senior year at Weber State).

“I feel so reborn in the golf world. I was given a second chance.”

Knutson cleaned up the ink off the wall and carpet and proceeded to make the most of that second chance. He finished sixth overall and the low amateur at the Rosauers Open last July. He was second on Weber State’s team with a 72.42 scoring average in the fall.

He tied for 14th with an even-par three-round score of 216 at a February tournament. He shot 69-70-71 as the Wildcats won Houston Baptist University’s Colin Montgomerie Invitational in March.

Knutson, who is an open book discussing the ups and downs of his playing career, tried to give it a go as a freshman, but his back didn’t cooperate and he sat out the season. After nearly 18 months without a competitive round, Knutson played in just one event as sophomore and three as a junior.

It’s been quite a physical and mental journey to reach the point where he’s became a strong contributor for the Wildcats. The combination of thousands of golf swings, possibly lifting too much in the weight room and too many crash landings on ski jumps had left him with a few fractured facet joints, some bulging discs and a couple that were one-fourth the size of a regular disc.

Knutson has concentrated on preventative training methods and strengthening his core the last few years.

“It’s doing well,” he said of his back. “Nothing of major concern.”

Still, Knutson needed mental breakthroughs to get his game back in shape. There was an “aha moment” on the range not quite a year ago that had nothing to do with intricacies of the swing. Just the opposite, actually.

“It was a little swing thought: keep it simple,” he said. “One thing I did really well in high school, I played golf. I didn’t play golf swing. It was just a moment of experimentation on the range, and I was, ‘Shoot, let’s pursue it,’ and I kept doing it and the results came.

“It reduced it to more of a feeling rather than religiously looking at video and studying if everything is on plane.”

Along those same lines, Knutson’s interests are no longer confined to the course. Golf is still a priority, but not a 24/7 preoccupation.

“I’m starting to focus my mind on other things,” said Knutson, who plans on using his fifth season of eligibility next year. “In high school, it was golf, golf, golf, and that’s what you have to do when you’re trying to play in college. I really do think about golf less. My life has a lot more moving parts now, and I feel more complete as a person.”

Next up for Knutson is the Big Sky Championships in Scottsdale, Arizona, this week. He’ll bring a healthy perspective to the first tee Monday.

“I feel like a kid again, just like when I discovered golf when I was really young,” said Knutson, whose roommate at Weber State is freshman Ty Anderson, a former Mead High standout. “I still feel the nerves and tension in a tournament, but my outlook is totally different. In high school or my first few years in college, I was a head case sometimes. My attitude when the chips were down in a tournament or if I hit a bad shot, I’ve never been able to brush it aside.

“It’s such a comforting feeling to do it. I don’t get angry anymore.”