FORTVILLE — Sam McWilliams wasn’t exactly a surefire standout at first. Like most up-and-coming golfers, McWilliams admits, he had to work at his craft several times over before finally making the jump.
It was simply a matter of not giving up, and the Mt. Vernon senior’s perseverance paid off with substantial leaps and bounds through the past three years and two seasons.
As a freshman, McWilliams earned the No. 2 spot in the boys golf team’s lineup, but the postseason proved his nemesis with a score of 89 at sectional and a non-state-qualifying 80 at the regional in 2018.
However, instead of letting the initial setback dictate the remainder of his career, McWilliams used it as motivation, and it led to a first-ever IHSAA state finals appearance in his final season, a top-25 state placement overall and a bright collegiate future ahead at IUPUI.
“It says a lot about Sam and his love for the game of golf. How much he has worked at it from his freshman year through to his senior year. If you look real close, he was shooting in the upper 80s as a freshman, so he hasn’t always been great,” Mt. Vernon head coach Tom Kirby said.
“He’s very into golf and what it takes to be good. He has that quality about him that lets him understand the relationship between swinging a club and actually going out on the course and scoring.”
As a sophomore, McWilliams turned the corner, firing a confidence-building, third-best individual score of 2-over-par 74 during the 2019 sectional at Hawk’s Tail of Greenfield, which placed him as the top individual regional qualifier without a team.
Yet, during the Muncie Central Regional at The Players Club at Woodland Trails, a few bad holes cost him a potential state berth, once again.
McWilliams shot a 5-over-par 77 that came in two strokes short of tying for the fifth and final individual state-qualifying spot.
Consecutive bogeys on the final three holes of the 2019 regional tournament bloated his 18-hole total from 2-over-par to out of contention.
The worst part, McWilliams recalled, was having to wait two years before getting another shot at proving himself due to the lost COVID-19 pandemic 2020 season.
This past spring, however, the 2021 Daily Reporter Boys Golf Athlete of the Year achieve just that and more by placing 21st at the IHSAA state meet held at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel last month.
McWilliams, the program’s first-individual state qualifier since Will Dant in 2016, shot a 10-over-par 154 through two-days and 36 holes to tie with four other golfers and solidify his place in Marauders’ history.
Out of the state meet’s 103 competitors, McWilliams tied for 21st by carding a 76-78-154, which was better than both recent Mt. Vernon state qualifiers Dant and Oliver Mast in 2015.
Dant tied for 90th five years ago with a 33-over-par, 95-82-177. Mast tied for 54th at 15-over-par, 78-81-159.
McWilliams’ 154 deadlocked him with Zionsville’s Maclean Dudasko, Bloomington South’s Andrew Todd, Henryville’s Westin Allen and Center Grove’s Brandon Heffner on the state finals’ individual leaderboard.
“It means a lot because ever since I was a freshman at high school, I’ve always wanted to go (to state). I’ve been working, probably, since sixth grade, but definitely ever since I got into high school. It’s been the main goal,” McWilliams said this postseason. “I think it’s pretty cool to put Mt. Vernon back in the state finals, and hopefully, in the future they’ll be back again.”
McWilliams set the example for future Marauders to follow.
As the Marauders’ No. 1 golfer and team captain, McWilliams helped lead Mt. Vernon to a 10th Hancock County championship in 12 years, a first-ever HHC team title and the program’s first sectional since 2016.
McWilliams’ poise and work ethic were irreplaceable this season, Kirby emphasized, and his potential was undeniable even through his trying first two years.
“I looked up what the team did two years ago when I got the job, and I said, ‘By golly, there was a Mt. Vernon kid who qualified to get to go to the regional, and my grandson told me, Sam was just a sophomore than.’ I said, ‘You’re kidding,’” Kirby recalled. “So, I knew Sam was an experienced player.”
Experience resulted in clutch performances from McWilliams in tense situations this season as the Marauders fended off HHC rival New Castle twice to secure two of their three team championships.
McWilliams shot a 3-over-par 75 at The Players Club during the HHC championships in mid-May, finishing second behind New Castle’s Derek Tabor (4-under-par 68).
While, not his best outing, McWilliams confessed, it was pivotal as Mt. Vernon won the title over New Castle by one stroke (335-336).
“He shot a 75 when we won the conference, and he was one of the first to tell me, ‘I don’t have my A-game today.’ So, he’s a couple over par when he ought to be playing under par, and we turn around and we win,” Kirby said. “A lot of that is a testament to Sam, not having his A-game, but he has the knowledge of golf to be able to still score.”
During the sectional tournament in early June at Hawk’s Tail, McWilliams came through again, shooting a 2-under-par 70 for second behind Tabor (3-under-par 69). Mt. Vernon won the team championship over New Castle 315-319.
“There’s a huge knowledge curve in golf,” Kirby said. “You’ve got to simplify your swing so you can go out and not think about swinging a golf club and think more about scoring on the golf course. That’s really what Sam does and makes him so much better.”
McWilliams showcased his ability to prioritize at regional, placing third overall at 3-under-par 69, which put him ahead of both Dillon Bergum (70) and Tabor (72) of New Castle to reach the state finals.
At state, McWilliams flirted with the leaderboad’s top-20 with a 4-over-par 76 through the first day on June 10 and maintained his 21st overall placement with a strong final 18 holes on June 11.
Three pars to end his last 18-hole round at state locked down a 6-over-par 78, which was plenty to leave behind a lasting legacy.
“This season will probably be the most memorable of my three years of high school ball,” McWilliams said at the state meet. “It’s everything I thought it would be.”
2021 Daily Reporter Boys Golf Team
Sam McWilliams, Mt. Vernon
Aden Cappelletti, Mt. Vernon
Matt Barada, New Palestine
Tyler Young, Greenfield-Central
Kyran Maxfield, Mt. Vernon
Joshua Alley, Greenfield-Central
Athlete of the Year: Sam McWilliams, Mt. Vernon
Coach of the Year: Tom Kirby, Mt. Vernon
