WICHITA, Kan. - A 16-hour flight, a flip in seasons and bags packed with only necessities and vuvuzelas began Calvin Pearson's first journey outside of his native South Africa.

Pearson left South African winter in August and touched down in the middle of Wichita summer 9,500 miles later to embark on his college career and work toward his dream of becoming a professional golfer.

The Wichita State freshman spent the last two months acclimating to not only a new culture and country, but to a new style of golf and life as a college student.

"I've had a great time so far and am enjoying it," Pearson, 19, said. "That's been really interesting. I'm very privileged to be over here."

The Shocker men's golf team has competed in four fall tournaments. Pearson posted his best finish - 24^th overall - at the UTA/Waterchase Invitational in Arlington, Texas Sept. 20-21. 

He led his Shocker teammates by shooting a 73 in the third round of the Firestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio Oct. 10-11.

Wichita State closes out the fall season with the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate at Las Cruces, N.M. Oct. 25-26.

Pearson was born and raised in the city of Durban in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. Durban, a city of more than three million people, sits on the coast of the warm Indian Ocean on the southeastern tip of the African continent. Durban is home to Africa's busiest port and is known for having "year-long" summer, Pearson said.

"You can golf all the time," said Pearson, who is a fan of and has met PGA golfers Ernie Els and Tim Clark, both fellow South Africans. "It's nice coming from that city, a beautiful place in South Africa. I really miss it. You could see the sea straight from my house. I was only a two-minute drive from the beach. We are very privileged to stay in a place like that." 

He played golf for Durban High School and in 2009 posted three first-place finishes while captaining the KwaZulu-Natal Under-18 Provincial Team.

He is the second in his family to move to the United States for college, as well as golf. His older sister Taynee Pearson is a senior golfer at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and offered advice to her brother on schools and also insight about life as a student-athlete.

Calvin Pearson e-mailed a handful of college golf coaches around the country expressing interest in playing in the United States and WSU stood out. WSU offered what he sought academically and veteran head coach Grier Jones left an impression.

"He's one in a million," Pearson said. "That was really big in me coming here." 

Pearson packed his bags and moved almost halfway around the globe sight unseen. His move to the United States marked his first trip outside of South Africa and left his parents Garth and Amanda home in Durban with both children studying in America.

"Because in South Africa we have good tours and everything, but if you want to make it big you've got to get out either to Europe or America," Pearson said. "America is probably the only place in the world where you can actually study and play."

He's had to adjust his golf game, as golf courses here are quite different from those he played along the African coast.

He's used to playing in wind, but courses here are more tree-lined and have larger greens.

"It's a big change coming from a place where you can just hit it all over the map," Pearson said. "Now over here you've got to hit it dead straight ... That's what I'm really struggling on right now is my driver. If I could just get that straightened out good scores will come my way for sure."

The current Wichita temperatures are already chilly for Pearson, who has never seen snow, so he's a little nervous about the upcoming Kansas winter.

Other big adjustments include trying new food and beverages. South Africans typically cook their own meals, as everyone takes health food very seriously, Pearson said. So he's not used to the frequency with which many Americans eat out at restaurants.

Soda is much more popular here than in his home country, where fresh fruit juice is often the drink of choice.

He misses drinking hanepoot juice, a type of grape juice, and eating a traditional South African meal called pap en vleis. Pap is made from corn and is covered in a tomato sauce for this dish. Vleis is meat and this meal includes steak and sausage.

"It's very simple. African food is very simple," Pearson said. "It's not anything extravagant, but it tastes great. I would give anything to have some of that right now."

He plans to spend Thanksgiving visiting his sister and will travel home to Durban for winter and summer breaks.

He did bring at least one piece of home with him to Kansas. 

The South African vuvuzela, a plastic horn that makes a loud monotone sound, caused a stir during the 2010 FIFA World Cup matches held there earlier this year.

"It started at the local games and now it's world-wide," said Pearson, who attended two Netherlands matches against Slovakia and Japan in Durban. "Other teams have songs to egg their teams on and we have vuvuzelas."

Pearson brought eight of them to Wichita.

"We are causing trouble in the dorms," Pearson said. "It's all in good fun."

Photos courtesy of Graeme Williams and Bongani Nkosi, MediaClubSouthAfrica.com.

- Wichita State -