3-Time Finals Champ Cherishes Memories, Considering Golf Future
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
August 3, 2022
Golf has been a major part of Katy Nightwine’s past – and it could be a big part of her future.
But at the present time, there’s something more important to tend to that’s putting golf on the backburner.
Close to three decades after making history as a golfer at Ann Arbor Pioneer, much of Nightwine’s time and energy these days is as a stay-at-home mom raising her 2-year-old son Henry with her husband Bryan.
But even while doing that, it’s hard to get golf completely out of her mind, as she’s already trying to plant a seed with her son.
“He enjoys putting the ball on the tee,” Nightwine said. “We’re happy with that progress.”
If the little guy starts fully getting into the game, he’ll be hard-pressed to find a better mentor than his mother.
Nearly 30 years ago Nightwine, then Katy Loy, made history by becoming the first to win three straight MHSAA Girls Golf Finals individual titles in the highest classification/division when she claimed three consecutive crowns in Lower Peninsula Class A.
Nightwine said she grew up on a golf course in Dexter (now closed), which is where she learned the game and grew a passion for it.
“I liked going to golf more than I liked going to swim practice,” she said. “It became that thing I did with my dad after work. The weekends would be spent golfing, and that became my favorite place to be.”
Nightwine won the Class A title in 1993 as a sophomore, and then repeated as a junior in 1994.
She remembers going into her senior year with a lot of people talking about whether she could make it three in a row, but it didn’t put any more pressure on her than she’d already put on herself.
“If I didn’t get it then, that was going to be the blemish,” Nightwine said. “It had so much more meaning than it being the third time, but let’s cap it off and really give me something to remember.”
In her words, it “wasn’t looking so good,” for Nightwine on the front nine during the last round of the Final in 1995, but she turned it around on the back nine at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West to claim her third-straight title.
From there, Nightwine went on to the University of Michigan and was named Freshman of the Year in the Big Ten in 1996.
Due to a desire to play in warmer weather and more prestigious tournaments, Nightwine transferred after her freshman year to the University of Kentucky, where she finished out her collegiate career.
Nightwine turned professional after college and played in a futures tour, but a back injury ultimately led her to quit playing professionally.
She worked as a golf instructor here and there. But in 2008, Nightwine started focusing on what she said was her other passion: Baking.
She opened up a pastry shop in Ann Arbor and continued in that business for 10 years before her family decided in 2018 to sell the property where the bakery was located to a company that repurposed it.
Now, Nightwine is fully entrenched in the business of being a mom and raising her son, but is hoping for a golfing revival in the future.
When her son gets older, she’s thinking about getting back into golf instruction or doing something else in the industry.
If nothing else, she wants to at least get back to playing consistently again.
“To see where my swing is at and go from there,” she said.
Regardless of what the future holds in the sport, Nightwine will always own a piece of state golf history, something she cherishes to this day.
“I will always be involved with golf, especially if (my son) takes a liking to it,” she said. “I have such fond memories of people I met.”
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PHOTOS (Top) At left, Katy Loy watches a drive during the 1994 Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Final. At right, Loy, now Nightwine, with her husband Bryan. (Middle) Katy Nightwine takes a swing at the driving range. (Below) Katy and Bryan Nightwine. (1994 Finals photo courtesy of Ann Arbor News/MLive; current photos courtesy of Katy Nightwine.)
Lumen Christi Builds a Champion, Greenhills Sophomore Repeats
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
October 15, 2022
ALLENDALE — There's no doubt that after 50 years of coaching, David Swartout can spin an interesting golf story or two. But his latest yarn might rank as one of the strangest.
Four years ago Swartout's Jackson Lumen Christi girls golf team was recruiting anyone who seemed to have an interest in the sport. What he never would have guessed was that diverse mix of multi-sport athletes would eventually earn a state championship.
But that's exactly the case after Lumen Christi shot a 688 to win Saturday's MHSAA Division 4 Finals at a blustery The Meadows at Grand Valley State.
Four years ago the program's only two returning letter winners began recruiting anyone who showed a interest in picking up a club. They wound up finding seven takers and the resulting nine seniors capped what Swartout can only describe as a "phenomenal."
The Titans wound up winning six of nine tournaments this season (finishing second in the other three), won their conference and last week's regional by 13 strokes. Lumen Christi won the MHSAA Finals by 23 strokes over runner-up Adrian Lenawee Christian.
Swartout can only marvel at how the program went from scrounging for players to his 17th state title in coaching both girls and boys.
"To go from there to a state title is phenomenal," said Swartout, who has coached two girls teams to titles. "The last three years we've improved by 100 shots. That's unheard of. I've never ever seen anything like that in all the teams I've had."
How did the program accomplish it? Swartout cites as example senior Ashley Hilderley, who hurt her knee playing volleyball on Wednesday and was told by doctors the only way she could participate in the state meet was if she didn't have to walk the course.
"So she limped around for two days," Swartout said of Hilderley, who finished in a tie for ninth with a 167.
Anna McClure led Lumen Christi with a 163 which put her in the sixth spot overall.
Ann Arbor Greenhills' Mia Melendez won the meet with a 149. Logan Bentley of Columbia Central was second with a 150, Grace Slocum of Traverse City St. Francis was third with a 151 while Montague had the next two placers in Mackenzie Goudreau (159) and Natalie Kellogg (162).
Hilderley said the Titans, who were the top-ranked team going into the meet, didn't let lofty expectations get in the way of performance.
"We don't think of ourselves as individuals. We're very much a team," she said. "If anyone ever has a bad day, someone will step up. We trust each other."
Hilderley said the team never considered giving in to pressure.
"I'd rather have people say we're good rather than say you aren't any good," she said.
Swartout won't go out on a limb and call this the best team he's ever coached. But there is one trait he points to in explaining the remarkable success. He said he'll see several of the kids at the driving range on his way home after practice.
"It's hard to do that after having so many teams, but this is one of my most special. I'll say that," he said. "To put in the kind of effort they put in makes them special. They work so hard, it's phenomenal."
Melendez won last year's state meet as a freshman. She said there's little doubt in the old adage that it's always harder to win the second time.
"It was. It's hard to live up to (last year's) title and it was a much different course this year," she said. "All around, I had to play better,"
Melendez finishes off an unbeaten season, including a regional title and the top spot going into Saturday.
"There was definitely a lot of pressure, but I committed myself to staying calm and just fighting hard," she said.
PHOTOS (Top) Sophomore Mia Melendez tees off at the 2022 MHSAA Division 4 Girls Golf Finals. (Middle) Jackson Lumen Christi wins the 2022 Division 4 team title. (Photos by Greg Chrapek.)