Student Athlete of the Week – Luke Ringkamp
PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) -- Palm Desert high school standout golfer Luke Ringkamp is our latest Student Athlete of the Week.
No. 1 recruit in California
— Blake Arthur (@BlakeArthur24) December 16, 2025
No. 7 ranked junior in USA@pdhsofficial standout Luke Ringkamp is this week's @KESQ student-athlete of the week. Here's some bonus content from my shoot with the @PepperdineMGOLF commit. @CoachMBeard @KenjiitoKESQ @AJGAGolf @amateurgolfcom @1Spain1 pic.twitter.com/vX7I9f5KWW
"Hey, my name's Luke Ringkamp. I'm a senior at Palm Desert high school and I'm committed to play D-1 golf at Pepperdine."
Luke Ringkamp is the No. 1 ranked golf recruit in California. In the junior golf Rolex rankings, he's No. 7 in the country. Safe to say, he could have gone to any college of his choosing, but he picked two-time national champion Pepperdine, coached by former Palm Desert Aztec, Michael Beard.
"Absolutely beautiful campus. It's right on the Pacific Ocean and some of the best practice facilities in California that you'll get, especially for where it's at the location, and Michael Beard, he's a legend down here, but he's the coolest guy in the world, so who wouldn't want to go with him?"
Luke has won a number of big tournaments in his young career - 3 Toyota Tour Cups, 2 Champions Invitationals, the recent Tournament of Champions, and last year's local league title, just to name a few. It's all a result of his work ethic and mindset.
"It's kind of every morning like this, right? I wake up, go putt, go chip before people are up and I do it with gratitude and just grateful that I can play the game every day. I don't feel like I have a certain edge. I just feel like I wake up every morning and I'm just happy to be go playing the game I love to play," said Ringkamp.
We won't see Luke compete in the spring golf season this year. His high school career is over, but his golf career is just getting started. And many think, including myself, that he has the makings of doing something no desert golfer has ever done.
"I want to be playing golf as a living. I don't really feel like sitting in an office is for me, so I hope in 20 years I look back on this knowing that I put the hard work in every single day relentlessly and just trying to get myself better as best I can, and I hope I have a green jacket when I'm looking back at this in 20 years," said Ringkamp.
The Student Athlete of the Week airs every Tuesday on KESQ News Channel 3. If you'd like to nominate a high school senior to be featured in the segment, please email share@kesq.com.
