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You Look Familiar

JeremyÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýYannik Paul (above left and right), identical twins from Germany, are believed to be the first twins to play men’s golf for CU-Boulder. Recently ranked among the world’s top 200 men’s amateurs, they are sophomore business majors, roommates — and aiming for the pro tour. Jeremy is older by one minute.

Twins have played for the CU women’s basketball and golf teams, and play now for the football team.

Tell me how you two golfers from Germany ended up at CU.

JP [Head golf coach] Roy Edwards emailed us that he was interested. He came over a couple of times to Europe and watched us play, and the former assistant coach, Jon Levy, came over. It’s like basically starting a new life, so you want to have somebody you can rely on and you can talk to.

YP Our recruiting visit [to Boulder] was at the end of September and it was like 90 degrees and sunshine. It was perfect.

JP There’s not a whole lot you can’t like here.

Were you apprehensive about going thousands of miles away for college?

JP Early on, we decided we wanted to go over here and study. If you decide to study in Germany, it’s hard to keep up with golf. Here you have the opportunity to play golf at a good level and at the same time get a good education.

Had you been to the U.S. often before your recruiting visit?

YP We had played a couple of tournaments, mainly in Florida. It was the first time seeing Colorado.

Are you often mistaken for each other?

JP At the beginning, for the coaches it was kind of hard. But when people get to know us better, they figure out that there are a lot of differences.

YP The first thing everyone notices is, of course, that Jeremy is wearing glasses. Jeremy styles his hair differently. Furthermore, people who know us really well can hear differences in the way we speak.

Are you competitive with one another?

JP Everybody tries to be the best. But I wouldn’t say we’re in actual competition, because we want each other to play good.

YP The best day is if we both play really good. Everyone is happy. The good thing is we can help each other.

Do you like hanging out, or do you prefer to spend time apart when you’re not on the course?

YP We try to spend time together also with other guys, because when you see each other 24 hours every day, you don’t have any more topics to talk about.

How did you first get into golf?

YP Our grandparents played golf, and our dad. Until age 12, we also played a lot of soccer. We started having [overlapping] tournaments, golf and soccer, so we had to decide and we decided for golf.

Was there ever any doubt you would go to the same school?

JP We wanted to go somewhere together. It’s a different culture here and you want to get used to it and it helps to have someone you can talk to and understands your problems.

What are your aspirations?

JP I first want to graduate. So many good players try to turn pro and they never make it. They broke up college and have nothing. I definitely want to have something in the back in case it does not work out.

YP Our final goal is to play on the PGA Tour.

Condensed and edited. Photography by Casey A. Cass