Posted Online:
Posted online: June 3, 2007 10:06 PM
Print publication date: 06/04/2007
Skahill putts way into
Black Hawk record books
By Tom Johnston, tjohnston@qconline.com
Matt Skahill hopes to
someday be knocking golf balls around for a living at the highest level of the
game and travel the world doing it. The 19-year-old got a taste of that life
last summer on a trip to Australia. He thinks that helped him take what could
turn out to be a huge step toward his ultimate dream, which recently received a
big boost.
The
Skahill fired rounds of 70-73-74-68 at the par-72 Goose Pond
Colony Golf Course to finish 3-under par. He was just seven shots off the
championship pace.
BHC only has had two other players log All-America
honors.
Skahill capped what had to be considered an improbable run in
dramatic fashion.
"He drained a 15-footer on 18 for birdie,"
said BHC coach Gary Huber. "That moved him up a bunch of spots."
It was appropriate that it came down to the roll of a
putt for All-America honors. Skahill said his putter
-- a brand new Rife model -- was the key to his play.
"I changed putters right before the
tournament," he said of leaving behind his old Ping Anser.
"I work at Pebble Creek and they have them (Rife
models) in the pro shop. I was goofing around with it and kind of liked it and
ended up buying it the day before I left. ... I didn't miss many
5-footers."
With some new-found putting confidence, Skahill said his course management changed.
"If I didn't have an angle at the pin, I'd just
shoot for the middle of the green and two-putt," he said. "I knew if
I was on the putting surface in regulation that I was going to get my par. ...
With the other putter, I felt like I had to get it real close to the hole to
have a chance to make anything."
Skahill, who described himself as a pretty straight hitter,
also took advantage of the par-5 holes, saying he played those 10-under for the
tourney.
His All-America accomplishment, he hopes, is a step in
his maturation that leads to bigger and better things. A lot of what he has
done is pointing him in that direction, including mastering a better
understanding of what it takes to improve and seeing the level of competition
he would have to beat at higher levels in his trip.
"The Aussies are really good," he said of
his Down Under Sports Tour experience. "We played some really tough
courses, but it was a fun experience."
On that 13-day trip, he said he played seven rounds in
10 days in
Once he got back, he realized what he needed to work
on in his own game.
"I was the kind of kid, if I didn't play, I'd
just go up (to the driving range) at 8 o'clock at night and hit balls and that
was my practice," he said. "Lately, I've realized that it's drive for
show and putt for dough and I've been working on my short game a lot more. ...
I've been working on my short game a lot more since last year, and that's made
a tremendous improvement in my game."
That's what Huber would love to see continue out of
the All-Arrowhead Conference performer who was in the hunt for medalist honors
in the league's round-robin.
"The kid can play; he's a great
ball-striker," said Huber. "He still needs to work on his short game.
He had a good short game at Nationals, but he can be a lot more consistent with
it."
In addition to continuing on his learning curve, he
now has one other major concern.
"It was a great achievement, but now I feel like
I have a weight on my shoulders because people who know that I did it are
expecting things of me," Skahill said of his
nationals showing. "I was a nobody, and now that
I did that, the pressure's on."
He is keeping everything in perspective, though, as he
still dreams about life on the PGA Tour.
"I'm just going to take everything one step at a
time," he said. "The next step is to look at a four-year school and
go from there."
Baby steps are a good thing when so much is riding on
the line.
"He's got a bright future," said Huber.
His recent past is pretty good, too.
"I was very, very happy with the way it ended
up," said Skahill of nationals. "The
outcome was a lot better that I thought it would be going down there."
Meet Matt Skahill
-- Personal: The 19-year-old just finished his
freshman season at BHC. He is a 2006
-- Prep honors: Was an Iowa All-Stater his senior year when he finished tied for sixth at
the Iowa State Class 4A Championships.
-- Future plans: On the encouragement of his
boss, Nate Lubs, the head golf professional at Pebble
Creek Golf Course, Skahill is looking at transferring
to
-- Parents: Steven & Janet Skahill,