MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The tennis court is where Tomas and Martina Matlari courted, but it's the golf course where Philipp Matlari shines for the West Virginia University Mountaineers.
 
"I would say my mom was a little bit better than my dad," Philipp says. "My mom actually played in the Australian Open. She was really good. She grew up with Boris Becker and he won a lot of majors in tennis.
 
"My dad played in the first division in Germany," he continued. "That was still a pretty huge deal and that's actually how they met each other. Having both parents being former athletes was a big advantage for me because my dad was always there for me and whenever I needed something related to golf he always gave me the opportunity to get it. I feel like both of my parents gave me their full support to be successful.
 
The Leimen, Germany native has played a vital role in West Virginia's rapid rise in the college golf rankings. Last year, the Mountaineers earned an NCAA regional bid for the first time since 1947 and earlier this week they received enough votes to crack the top 25 in the coaches' poll for the first time in school history.
 
WVU was just two strokes shy of advancing to NCAA nationals last spring.
 
"It was kind of sad that we missed (qualifying for NCAA nationals) by two shots but that just gives us confidence that we can make it this year and hopefully we can write history again and play in the national championship."
 
Matlari's older brother Alexander also came to the U.S. to play golf at Duke. Philipp's tie to WVU comes from his coach in Germany, Ted Long, a former Mountaineer golfer before the program was cut in 1981.
 
"We both knew at a young age that we were going to go to America," Matlari says. "We probably decided by the time we were 15 and we already knew guys in our golf club who had already been to the States who studied there and played golf. It's a great opportunity to get an education and develop your golf game, too. 
 
When Philipp's golf career winds, he eventually plans to put the business management degree he's working on at WVU to good use.
 
"My thought about picking this major is my dad owns a company and I am considering taking his company over if I don't turn professional," he said.
 
Today's Life as a Mountaineer was produced by Scott Bartlett and is presented by WVU Medicine.