TERRE HAUTE —
It’s been a loooooong time in the making.
When the Indiana State women’s golf program was resurrected in 2005, it had already been on a 28-year hiatus. Since then, the Sycamores have enjoyed modest success, but have not hosted a golf match or invitational.
That changes beginning today — in a big way.
ISU is hosting the three-day State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Golf Championships at the Country Club of Terre Haute, beginning today through Tuesday.
Tee times are at 8:30 a.m. each day in this 10-team, 54-hole tournament. There is no admission charge.
ISU’s second-year coach Greg Towne knows — and his players too — his team will not only be genial hosts, but feels they can contend with the best of the MVC.
“When I first got here we had six players,” Towne recalled. “Now we have nine and we’re going to add a couple this year, so we’ll have it up to 11. The numbers are good, builds some competition within the team.
“My history has been with teaching skilled amateurs and professionals, both on the PGA and LPGA tours. It’s my vision for these girls that they can be just as good as those [players].
“Given four years of college practice, the support from the athletic training department and their weight and strengthening folks … you can really develop some good champions from what would be considered normal high school players. This group can really come up with something special … and it might as well as be here.”
Towne, a 1982 Wichita State graduate, has a background including 22 years of pro golf experience — five years on the Nationwide Tour, playing in Europe and making the cut at a U.S. Open — and 10 years teaching golf.
“My first year, we finished last or next to last in probably every tournament,” Towne laughed. “It’s the same girls, but they’ve worked hard and their swings are night and day different.
“Last fall, we played some of the exact same courses we played the year before and our scores were 25 shots better per round. That’s quite a bit. This fall was a continuance of that, where everybody got better.
“Then we added some freshmen this year, so they’re learning the system and how we work it. They have some things to learn, but two of them are playing on the team.”
Previous coach Mike Whitson was hired to bring the program back to life in 2005. His rosters had just five or six players many seasons, but his final team had an impressive third-place finish in the 2010 MVC Tournament.
Whitson resigned after that season and is currently head coach at his alma mater, Eastern Kentucky.
A pair of holdover players from Whitson’s tenure speak highly of current coach Towne, and the positive direction of the program.
“Coach Towne is more than a step above our old coach,” junior Emily Dixon stated. “We understand the game better, more enthusiastic about being out here. Grow our minds as well. We’re headed in the right direction. We have five freshmen that are dedicated to improving their games. I think our success is right in the near future.”
“We did have a great coach before, but receiving Coach Towne was a blessing,” junior Christina Beyerl noted. “We know more about golf and I think we all enjoy it more. We’ve come a long way. We’re a young team, so we have a few years to figure it out.”
Two other key players have only Towne’s coaching as a reference point.
“Coach has transformed us all as players, opened our mind up to golf with more depth than we’ve really ever experienced,” sophomore McCall Christopher said. “He’s turned it into more of a learning process instead of just coming out and playing. We’re more of a team working at the same pace, working on the same goals.”
“I’ve learned so much more about the game,” freshman Gina Della Camera echoed. “It’s made me more confident as a player on the course, and also knowing my teammates can help me too.”
Towne is excited to finally be able to showcase his players on the CCTH course. But he’s also looking to the future for ways to allow his team to move up in the upper echelons of women’s golf — not just the MVC, but nationally too.
One thing on his wish list is a way to better bridge the gap during down time between the fall and spring seasons.
“Winter is a bit of a problem, but we practice inside,” Towne said. “Work with cameras, work on our swing mechanics, so we usually hit the ground running pretty well. It took us just two or three rounds this year to start getting some good scores.
“We have the ability to hit into nets inside. But there’s something significant about being able to hit off turf to the outside, where you can actually see the ball going … and hit regular balls. When you hit softer balls or limited-fly balls, it’s not quite the same.
“Hopefully we’ll get some support from the community to build us a facility where we can hit balls from inside out. Turn this into a nationally-recognized program.”
College
Related Photos
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Practice time: Indiana State golfer Emily Dixon hits a drives on the back nine of the Country Club of Terre Haute while team mates Gina Della Camera, McCall Christopher and Christina Beyerl watch.
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Greg Towne
Discussion
Hosting Missouri Valley Conference meet, ISU golf heading in right direction under Towne
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