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.”
2021-22 Made in Michigan
Aug. 1: Lessons Learned on Track Have Jibowu's Business Surging to Quick Success - Read
July 28: Running Set Life's Stage for Grosse Pointe South's Record-Setting Meier Sisters - Read
July 25: 2005 Miss Basketball DeHaan Cherishing Newest Title: 1st-Time Mom - Read
July 21: Championship Memories Still Resonate with St. Thomas Star Lillard - Read
July 14: Portage Central Champ Rolls to Vanderbilt, Writing Next Chapter in Alabama - Read
July 12: Coaching Couple Passing On Knowledge, Providing Opportunities for Frankfort Wrestlers - Read
June 30: Hrynewich's Star Continuing to Rise with Olympic, Pro Sports Arrivals - Read
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.)
St. Francis Sophomore Building Up to Possible Multi-Sport Championship Story
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
October 7, 2022
Although there are plenty of races run on golf courses across the state, it is unlikely anyone would win both high school golf and cross country events on the same golf course.
The odds aren’t very good either that an athlete will capture an MHSAA Finals championship in both sports.
The chances must be even slimmer still for that athlete’s teams to sweep both titles in the same season.
Meet Grace Slocum, a golf and cross country standout at Traverse City St. Francis High School. Don’t bet against her work ethic and talent. Her coaches say both are second to none.
The odds of her capturing golf and cross country first place on the same golf course, winning an individual state championship in both golf and cross country in the same season and helping – if not leading – the Gladiators to team state titles in the same season cannot be calculated.
There might not be a need to do any speculating. Her coaches and teammates can’t wait to see what she accomplishes yet this season and throughout her career. Slocum is only a sophomore.
Her school is undergoing some re-modeling right now. A bigger trophy case perhaps should be under consideration.
She’s been accumulating hardware at golf events away from her high school team for some time. Now, she’s winning high school championships. This week, she won a golf Regional title and led her team to a second-place finish qualifying the Glads for the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final to be played Oct. 14-15 at Grand Valley State University. St. Francis shot a 400 to trail only champion Harbor Springs – one of the strongest golf programs in the state – which finished with a 383.
Slocum finished ninth at the Finals last year as a freshman, and the Glads wound up 13th. Craig Ardery, who is in his 20th season as the St. Francis girls golf coach, is hoping his team cracks the top 10 this time.
When the Golf Finals are over, veteran St. Francis cross country coach Julie Duffing will have Slocum dedicated to running – and the Glads have their eyes on a team championship again after winning LPD3 titles in 2015 and 2016. They were third last year and have ridden consecutive conference and Regional successes to the Finals every year since 2015 – the year Duffing became head coach.
That was also the year her daughter, Katelyn, was a freshman on the Glads team. Julie Duffing's role didn’t change a whole lot with the new title. Prior to joining St. Francis as an assistant track coach in 2013, she had coached at Kingsley for 17 years. The Stags regularly finished among the top 10 in boys and girls cross country during her tenure.
The last year the Glads girls did not qualify as a team for the Finals was 2014 – also the year Holly Bullough won the first of her two individual Finals championships.
Today, the Glads are still feeling some sting from missing out on second place last year by just a few points to Kent City.
“The plan was to come back with a vengeance this year,“ said Duffing, who enjoyed a prep running career herself at Tawas and competed in track & field and cross country at Saginaw Valley State University. “Last year being third, and only two points separated second and third, was a little bitter.”
Slocum’ s twin brother, Josh, also plays golf for the Glads and runs cross country. He’s recovering from a summer injury but ran a personal record last week in his first race of the season. He was the top finisher too for the team ranked second in LPD3.
The St. Francis girls, ranked number one in LPD3, will soon have Slocum dedicated to cross country. She’ll be with the Glads for their last three scheduled meets including the Regional in East Jordan and the Final on Nov. 5 at Michigan International Speedway.
Hart won the LPD3 girls championship last year and is currently ranked fourth. The Glads have run against the Pirates twice this season, winning one of the matchups.
Last year as a freshman, Slocum missed several cross country races but finished 29th at the Final. Sophia Rhein, despite running injured, finished 31st. Betsy Skendzel, 10th, was the Glads’ top finisher. Reilly Duffing was 52nd, Mary Masserant was 62nd and Maddie Gallagher was 84th.
Rhein is the only senior this year among the six returnees. Add stellar freshman Paige Ritchie, and the Glads are ready to contend. Other members of the team looking to compete are senior Cora Garrey, junior Margot Haggerty, sophomores Katie Harrand and Maya Padisak, and freshmen Lucy Noggle, Olivia Padisak and Sarah Trojanowski.
“We did beat Hart at Benzie, and everybody was super excited about that,” Duffing noted. “And then we lost to them this last weekend.
“We didn’t have Grace this last weekend,” she continued. “We just didn’t have a great weekend.”
The loss to Hart can only help the Glads as they prepare for the postseason.
“I told the girls it’s OK. … Let’s have our bad races now,” Duffing said. “Let’s get them out now, and then we don’t have to worry about having another one.”
Slocum, whose favorite sport is golf, considered focusing exclusively on golf this fall. The pressures of two sports at one time with homework demands and school absences were weighing on her as the fall season began.
Duffing was prepared as the possibility was contemplated, having known Slocum for some time through her daughter’s close friendship and all the years they played hockey together. At the top of Duffing’s mind was – and is – Slocum’s happiness.
Duffing came up with a convenient plan for Slocum to follow and participate in cross country. The running Glads were thrilled with it. As a smaller school, the coach knew the importance of flexibility for student-athletes.
“I just looked at her and said, ‘You have a spot on the team no matter what,’” Duffing said. “‘You come when you can – we’ll work with you.’
“‘You don’t golf on Saturdays,’” Duffing recalled telling Slocum. “‘So race on Saturdays, and when you can get some runs in (during) the week, great.”
Knowing Slocum would be in the Glads’ top five whether she practiced regularly or not, the team set its sights on repeating as conference champs and moving through the Regional to the Final.
“I think our job with Grace was to keep the pressure off her and keep her happy,” Duffing noted. “I want her smiling, and I want her to have fun.
“It’s a team sport with a lot of really high goals, and she is part of those,” Duffing continued. “I just want her to be a part of it.”
The two worked out a schedule for training that focused on Sunday running as all the other pieces fell in place. They lost a few Saturdays so Slocum could golf on the courses where the Regional and Final were scheduled.
Slocum will wrap up her golf season next Friday and Saturday in Allendale. She’ll then run Oct. 22 in the Northern Michigan Cross Country Championship at Gaylord – on a golf course at the Otsego Club – and then is expected to help the Glads at the Regional on Oct. 29 before going after the Finals championship.
As she moves through her high school career, Slocum likely will shatter every single golf record at her school — if she hasn’t already. She’s been the team’s top golfer since joining the program a year ago. Before her victory Tuesday, only one other St. Francis golfer had won a girls golf Regional title.
“She’s the number one golfer in my history of girls golf,” Ardery said. “She’s hitting a bar that will be difficult for other golfers to meet.
“The girls before her know about her, and they are very pleased to have their records broken,” he continued. “It’s pretty impressive what she’s been able to do.”
Slocum is nearing the mid-point of her high school career. It would be difficult to bet against her possibly winning golf and cross country races on the same course – or team and individual Finals championships during the same season.
“She has the lowest scoring average of any golfer I’ve coached, and she’s only a sophomore,” Ardery said. “It’s real early in the story.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Grace Slocum (908) and Traverse City St. Francis teammate Grace Skendzel round a corner during a race this fall. (Middle) Slocum stands next to a flag during last season’s MHSAA Girls Golf Finals. (Below) Slocum and twin bother Josh, left, are both golfing and running cross country for the Gladiators this fall. (Top two photos courtesy of Jessica Slocum; bottom photo by Tom Spencer.)