Glen Lake's Champ Sets Sights Higher
September 9, 2015
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
TRAVERSE CITY – The ball landed on the green a few feet past and left of the hole.
One hundred and eleven yards away, at the tee box on the 11th hole at the Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids, Glen Lake's Nichole Cox squinted through the bright sunshine on this late August day to see where she would putt for birdie.
Turns out, there would be no birdie putt. The backspin Cox put on the ball with her pitching wedge, coupled with the slope of the green, drew the ball right to the cup. Just like that, the defending Lower Peninsula Division 4 champion had her first career hole-in-one en route to a personal-best 3-under 69 in winning the Cardinal Invitational.
That shot typifies Cox's torrid pre-Labor Day start to the 2015 season. Four matches, four impressive victories, including the two-day, 36-hole Lober Classic at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa. Cox shot rounds of 71 and 76 on the Spruce Run and Wolverine courses to take the title by two strokes over Brighton's Annie Pietila, who had led by three shots after opening with a 68.
"It was crazy," Cox said. "I was proud of myself. That was my goal (to win the tournament)."
Glen Lake was the smallest school in the 26-team field.
"I think that might be the best competition we'll see until the state tournament," Lakers coach Paul Christiansen said.
The 17-year-old Cox also won two matches at Mistwood. She fired an even-par 71 to claim the Traverse City West Titan Invitational by nine strokes and then came back a few days later with a 1-under 70 to capture a triangular match by 13 strokes.
Of her five 18-hole rounds, she's played four at par or under par.
"She's pretty motivated," Christiansen said. "She is her own toughest critic. She has high expectations. She'll say her goal is to win every match this year."
To do that, Cox said she's had to sharpen her focus. She said she no longer worries about her score during a match. Instead, she is more intent on the "simple things," like making sure she hits the fairways and greens. The rest, she said, will take care of itself.
"I've been making a lot more up and downs," the junior said. "I feel good about it right now."
Always known as a long ball hitter off the tee, Cox has steadily improved as a putter.
"I can basically two-putt from anywhere (on the green)," she said. "I don't three-putt much. That's a big step from last year."
She's also had her share of one-putts, knocking down a number of long birdie attempts.
Her putting has been aided by a stronger approach game, thanks to a new set of Callaway Apex irons she put in her bag before the season.
"(The switch) was mostly to control her iron play, trajectory and distance," Scott Wilson, her swing coach in the Junior Elite program at Crystal Mountain, said. "She dialed in almost immediately. Certainly that's a concern when you make an equipment change like that (before the season), but it was the right fit for her. I wish we would have done it sooner."
Cox, who was third in LP Division 4 as a freshman, enjoyed a solid summer on the links, competing in the Michigan Women's Open and Michigan Amateur, where she reached the Sweet 16.
"Every year she just gets better," her father, Duane, said. "She's playing with more confidence. It's not just one thing that's getting better, everything is getting better. Her numbers this year are so much better – and they were good last year."
Christiansen said it's fun to watch her play.
"Really good players have their own swing coaches, and I don't want to mess that up," he said. "I think you can have too many voices. My job is to keep her relaxed, keep her in the moment, keep her level-headed so she's not too hard on herself. You have to be able to let a bad shot go."
Christiansen maneuvers around the course to watch all of his golfers during a match, so he's not with Cox constantly.
"That's one cool thing about golf, unlike some other sports where the coach is with you 100 percent of the time," he said. "You've got to adjust to situations yourself and learn course management. She's played so much golf, she's really good at figuring out what she's doing right and wrong."
Cox has been around the game for years. When she and her twin brother Brandon were in kindergarten, their parents bought a home with a driving range. The family has operated the Dune Valley Driving Range the last 10 years. It's across the road from the Dunes Golf Club, which the family plays regularly.
"I thought it would be a great place for kids to grow up," Duane said.
Cox edged Farwell's Bria Colosky by one stroke to win last season’s MHSAA Final with a 36-hole score of 159. They and two others entered the second round tied for first at 83, but Cox shot a 76, to Colosky’s 77, to finish the competition.
"I thought I lost it because I double-bogeyed my last hole," Cox said. "I was pretty convinced I blew it for myself. I was surprised that I won."
Cox would like to take that surprise element out of the equation this year.
"The goal is to get better every match so that next month she's ready to roll (in the MHSAA tournament)," Christiansen said.
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. 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) Maple City Glen Lake's Nichole Cox watches a shot during last season's Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final. (Middle) Cox unloads a tee shot during another 2014 event. (Middle photo courtesy of Glen Lake High School.)
Longtime Coach Has Marshall Aiming High
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 15, 2019
MARSHALL — When Dick Hamilton signed on to coach the Marshall girls golf team, never in his wildest dreams did he think he would still be doing so 40 years later.
“I’m just glad to be alive 40 years later,” he said, laughing.
He is not only alive, but thriving on working with what he calls “close to the best team I’ve had.”
After winning the Division 3 Regional on Oct. 7 at Niles, the Redhawks are headed to the MHSAA Final this Friday and Saturday at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University.
It will be the 29th time Hamilton’s teams will have competed at the Finals level and, with five seniors, he hopes this is the year to win the previously elusive championship.
Third place is the highest his teams have finished. These Redhawks are ranked third in Division 3 and finished eighth last year.
The team is led by four-year varsity golfer Karlee Malone, who was Regional medalist with an 83 at Orchard Hills Country Club.
Big changes
High school golf has come a long way since Hamilton began coaching.
“When I started, there was one division and everybody was in the same division,” Hamilton said. “Ironically, my first year, we hosted the state championship at Marshall High School.
“Our AD said, ‘You run it.’ It had to be the worst-run state championship in history. I was a rookie and everybody was coming in with these powerhouse teams.”
The Redhawks actually qualified for that year’s championship tournament and ended up eighth.
While the game, itself, has not changed much over the years, the coaching and the golfers have, Hamilton said.
The Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association pushed for more divisions, and today the MHSAA has four divisions for golf in the Lower Peninsula.
“There are a lot more good players now,” Hamilton said. “When I started, we were in the spring and we would just go play and that was it.
“The season would be over. They wouldn’t work on it. They wouldn’t play.”
Now, he said, his golfers play all summer, especially Golf Association of Michigan events.
“When I started, girls were players if their dads were (golfers),” Hamilton said. “Now, out of the girls on my golf team, maybe one or two of their dads are players.
“It’s a game where they get into it, they take lessons, they go to First Tee, they go to Foundation Golf Center, they have private swing coaches and that makes a difference.”
Having the best equipment also is a plus. Hamilton had that advantage when he was growing up in the Thumb.
“My dad was a good player, and my grandfather was a good player,” he said.
“My grandfather owned the local hardware store, so I got a set of golf clubs the day I went to play golf (at age 6 or 7). Not every kid in town had that.”
Another change in high school golf was the uniforms.
When he started coaching, the girls team had no specific uniforms.
“When I started in 1980-81, I said this is a team; we’ve got to have a uniform,” he said.
“They looked at me like I was crazy. The AD bought into that, and I think that helped.”
While Hamilton did not coach any mothers of his current golfers, he did have his own two daughters on his team.
“They were basketball players who played golf when the season came on, but in those days, it was in the spring,” he said.
“They live in New York now and don’t play much anymore.”
Over the years, Hamilton has thought about giving up the position, especially once he retired from teaching history at the high school.
“Every time I had a really good team, I’d say ‘Well, I don’t want to give up this really good team,’” he said.
“A couple of times we’ve had rebuilding years, and I didn’t want to give that to anybody else so it just kind of kept going.”
Full speed ahead
These current golfers are happy he kept going.
In addition to the Regional title, the Redhawks won the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference (going undefeated) this fall, plus the conference tournament and four invitationals.
“He meets the needs of every individual player,” Malone said. “He is willing to take you aside individually and work with you.
“Golf is not only a team sport, but an individual sport, so he helps us with that aspect. But he also brings us together as a team and sets goals for us that we’re able to meet.”
After tying for fifth individually at the Division 3 Final last year, Malone said she feels a bit of pressure this season.
“I’ve been dealing with that all throughout the season,” she said. “I wanted to have an even better season than last year, so rising to those expectations has been an extra challenge.”
Marie Mathieu, another four-year varsity golfer, said with all seniors on the team, there is an advantage.
“We’ve all played together for so long that we know how to help everyone and give everyone confidence,” she said.
Another four-year varsity golfer is Emily McLane, who appreciates the coach’s sense of humor.
“He’s very encouraging, and he’s funny,” she said. “He cracks some jokes once in a while.
“Our practices are really structured. We work on chipping, we work at the range, we work at putting all the time so when we get on the course, we know what to do.”
The other two seniors are Malena Solis and Katie Kolassa. Assistant coach is Sal Konkle, who also led the Marshall girls basketball team to the Class B championship in 2016.
The Redhawks’ home course is Marshall Country Club, where Hamilton has been a member for 50 years.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Marshall girls golf coach Dick Hamilton talks with his team before last week’s Regional. (Middle) Clockwise from top left: Hamilton, Karlee Malone, Emily McLane and Marie Mathieu. (Below) Hamilton will take a team to the MHSAA Girls Golf Finals for the 29th time over his four decades as coach. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)