By NICK VILLALOBOS
Editor-in-Chief
As they walk up to each tee box, down each fairway or up to each putt, he is right there with them.
Kyle Ward, the Northwestern men’s golf coach, follows his guys through each hole of each tournament throughout the season.
Last fall, Ward arrived with the team for the first time and upon his debut at the helm, Ward has led the men’s team to a steady improvement in each tournament.
After finishing in a disappointing tenth place in the Great American Conference Preview back in September, the team gradually worked their way up the ladder over the entirety of the fall season to finish an impressive second place at the NWOSU Invitational in October.
Now golf has often been considered an individualized sport, but that begs the question, how important is a coach if golf is indeed based off of the individual’s efforts?
Trevor Montgomery, Northwestern senior, health and sports science major and Northwestern golf team member, and his teammate, Cole Ward, Northwestern sophomore and history education major, this question has brought about the same answer from either player.
Montgomery said a head coach is important because he can help the team’s game climb to new levels and keep them from unraveling mentally while out there on the course.
Ward agreed as he said it’s awesome having a coach because he can talk to the team out on the course during tournaments and keep them on track so they can all post a good number.
Despite the agreement and positive argument by Montgomery and Ward, professional golfer, Tiger Woods has shown what the negative side effects to having a golf coach may have.
In an article by, Brian Wacker, PGA Tour Digital writer, Wacker asked Peter Kostis about Woods’ struggles during the 2015 season -and previous seasons- after Woods switched coaches. Kostis said, “Each time he made a change of instructors, from childhood to Butch Harmon, from Butch to Hank Haney, from Haney to Sean Foley and now Foley to Como it seems like there’s a regression before there is progression, but each time the regression has gotten worse and this time it’s the worst.”
It is not 100% certain whether Woods struggled because of his coaches alone, or because of other personal issues outside of the sport, but it is clear that through the span of 2010 to 2015, that Woods would have his worst finishes in his career to date.
Woods, since moving from coach to coach, has also been plagued by injury in his back and has been forced to undergo several surgeries to repair it.
The injury will cause him to miss some time this season, and with his timetable still not clear on when he will return, a new question arises.
The question is would a coach prove to be a vital asset if a team has one?
“He [Coach Ward] is able to give us important information about how the course is playing, what hitches we have in our swing, and most importantly, he is able to calm me down on the course when things might not be going my way,” Montgomery said.
Cole also followed his teammate when he said, “Having a head coach is good because you have someone to look up too especially when they are better than you.”
For Woods though, it is unclear whether a coach would be vital or not due to him being injured, but after a dismal 2015 season where he only played in 11 events, posted one top 10 finish and missed the cut four times, a coach might just prove to be a positive gain to building his golf game back to what it once was in the early 2000s when he dominated the tour.
So this spring season, the Northwestern men’s golf team will be led by Kyle Ward, who has been there with them since the fall season began; the one who has been there for each drive, chip and putt, whether he is a necessity or a negativity.