Saline's Williams-Hoak Named National Coach of the Year by LPGA Professionals
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 20, 2022
The LPGA Professionals have named Saline High School golf coach Debbie Williams-Hoak as its national Coach of the Year.
Williams-Hoak was among national award winners who were selected by the LPGA Professionals’ executive committee from a pool of Section Award winners, which were voted on by officers of those regional sections.
More on the award from LPGA Professionals:
The LPGA Professionals Coach of the Year Award was established in 1980 and is awarded annually to an LPGA Professionals member who is actively engaged in teaching and/or coaching golf at the collegiate or high school level.
LPGA Professionals Class A member Debbie Williams-Hoak knows what it takes to compete at the highest levels. She is a former LPGA Tour Player and track & field athlete who represented U.S. Track & Field in Russia and West Germany. She is a four-time Big Ten Champion, a member of the Ohio Track & Field Hall of Fame, University of Michigan Women’s Track Hall of Fame member and a member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame as a player, coach and teaching professional. This year, she is being inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor.
Having been a multi-sport athlete accustomed to competing at the highest level, Williams-Hoak brings something unique to her coaching style. She has successfully coached boys and girls golf for the past 16 years at Saline High School in Saline, Michigan, and currently is serving as the first female president of the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association. Williams-Hoak feels proud that every girl on her team shot career lows while maintaining 100-percent academic eligibility this season, while her boys team placed second in the conference championship and qualified for its second-straight state Finals appearance.
She is dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of the game while empowering students through golf and hopes her example will pave the way for other women coaches to lead as well.
Williams-Hoak received the 2017 Sandy LaBauve Spirit Award, the most coveted honor bestowed by LPGA*USGA Girls Golf, for her continued dedication and passion for empowering girls through golf. She was honored with the Midwest Youth Leader of the Year and Goldie Bateson Award two times, in addition to numerous recognitions as Coach of the Year from Saline High School.
She is deeply involved with the LPGA Professionals organization, which she currently serves as the LPGA Midwest Secretary since 2021. She has been site director for LPGA*USGA Girls Golf of Greater Washtenaw Country since 2015 and acted as an advisor for the Site Director Certification program in 2021. From 2018-2021, she worked as an expert committee member for LPGA*USGA Girls Golf. She also coached at the LPGA Leadership Academies in Michigan over the last two years.
"I am extremely humbled by this award, as there are so many outstanding LPGA coaches in our association. What an honor to represent the LPGA, the state of Michigan and the game of golf as a coach,” said Williams-Hoak. “It is a privilege to work with so many wonderful players who make coaching so rewarding. I am also fortunate to have such great fellow coaches in Michigan and throughout the LPGA. Thank you so much for this very special recognition."
PHOTO: Saline golf coach Debbie Williams-Hoak, far left, stands for the trophy shot with her girls team after the Hornets won the 2016 Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship. (MHSAA file photo)
Medalist Menser Sets Pace as DCC Pulls Away from Skyline to Take Back Title
By
Tom Lang
Special for MHSAA.com
June 8, 2024
BATTLE CREEK – For the last four years, Detroit Catholic Central and Ann Arbor Skyline have been battling nip and tuck as two of the top teams in Michigan, led by 2024 seniors Julian Menser of DCC and Vibhav Alokam of Skyline.
This year, Catholic Central nipped Skyline, again, winning the boys Lower Peninsula Division 1 title at Bedford Valley by eight strokes with a two-round 597.
Menser shot 70-70-140 over Friday and Saturday to win medalist and lead the Shamrocks to the team title, the program’s second over the last three years. DCC’s prior three championships came from 2015-17.
Menser said none of his current teammates were on the squad with him two years ago when Catholic Central came from behind to nudge out Ann Arbor Skyline by one stroke.
“I’m really excited, but I’m even more excited for the guys on the team that have won (the state title) because they haven’t gotten to experience this,” Menser said like a true leader. “Looking back on my sophomore year, in the moment that was the entire highlight of my high school career, and obviously this (today) will rival it. But I’m happy for those guys. They worked really hard. I’ve pushed them hard, and they’ve responded and played really well. I’m happy for them more than for myself.”
Menser led with his 140, while senior Carson Lloyd took 13th at 152, and two sophomore teammates Jack Whitmore and David Krusinski placed 23rd and 26th, respectively.
“I’ve had this event circled on my calendar, and I’ve wanted to win this for a long time,” Menser said. “It’s a really strong field and good competition, so it’s exciting to come out on top and know that all my hard work has paid off.”
His next step in the progression is to play golf at Michigan State.
“It’s the best golf team in the state. And ever since I was a little kid I wanted to go play golf at Michigan State,” he said. “It’s a dream come true, and I can’t wait to get there and that be my next step.”
The lead group Saturday featured Metro Detroit powerhouse golfers Peter Roehl, the defending medalist and a senior at Rochester Adams, and Skyline’s Alokam – who took runner up to Menser this weekend. Roehl dropped in a birdie putt bomb on the 18th green to finish with a second-round 70 and sixth place.
“I’m proud of the way I played today,” Alokam said. “Can’t really be mad at a 69. Julian is just such a good player. He really didn’t make any mistakes. Unfortunately, I didn’t get many putts to fall on the back nine to maybe get him nervous and hopefully get some pressure on him. But it’s all good, he’s a great dude and great player.
“The team, for a while there we weren’t putting up good scores, we didn’t break 310 for like a month,” he added. “So, I’m really proud of how we bounced back and how we kind of got it together here at the end of the season.”
Alokam is next headed to Villanova to join his older brother Vimal, a senior to be. “Playing with a sibling at a collegiate level is any kid’s dream,” Vibhav Alokam said.
“CC is always going to be good,” he continued. “They have a ton of good guys, good players. We got them my freshman year, then they got us by one (in 2022) in an incredible comeback. This year they got us again. We battled hard; it’s just the way it falls sometimes. But they deserve it.”
Sophomore Troy Nguyen of Warren De La Salle Collegiate tied for third with senior Matthew Novak of Mattawan. Conner Fox of Lake Orion tied Roehl for fifth.
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Catholic Central’s Julian Menser follows an approach shot during Saturday’s second round. (Middle) Ann Arbor Skyline’s Vibhav Alokam tees off. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)