Charger Chatter: Mike Harner

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Chief Staff Officer for Dr. Arnn and head Golf Coach Mike Harner talks about coaching the Men’s Division II Golf Team.

 

What were the motivations to make Golf a D-II sport on campus?

We had a golf team back when I was a student here. The team played other schools in the NAIA conference (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics), many of those same competitors we now play at Division II. It had always had a presence on campus, but it wasn’t well funded. Sadly, 10 years ago we had to discontinue the team because other sports on campus took precedence at the time. Finally, the means became available to us thanks to an endowment by Dawn Potter, and we were able to accelerate to the next level.

 

How did you start building a team, and what did you look for when you were recruiting?

The club golf team helped us identify the talent that was here on campus. Many of those players competed in the National Collegiate Club Association tournaments and that helped us find what players we wanted to start our Division II team with. We recruited the high school kids just like any other NCAA sport. We searched the web, we visited schools. The students we recruited were able to compete at college level, and they were able to compete with Hillsdale College academics. It’s a good thing the students we were looking for academically are not uncommon in the sport of golf.

 

What is some going to be some of your biggest challenges this season as a new team?

Other schools have the advantage of visiting the same tournament fields every year, and becoming acquainted with them. As a new team we don’t have that advantage. It is something we will have to address as we move on. We are also a young team with six freshman. College golf isn’t like high school golf where you just play 18 holes at a time. Sometime you’re playing 54 holes a day as a college golf athlete. They are balancing studies as well as adjusting to school. We told their parents that some won’t play every game or will just play fall or spring. Academics are their first priority.

 

What does an average practice day look like for a Hillsdale golfer?

Imagine the normal academic life of a Hillsdale student and then add 20 hours a week of golf commitment on top of that. Most of the players get out of class at 2 p.m. and they head out to the driving range, or some days we will go to the course and work on chipping and putting. In addition to skills we work on our mental game as well. I love the Wimbledon quote, “If you can meet triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters the same.” In golf you have great shots, and low shots. Neither of those shots define you as a golfer, and our players have to remember that. Look at both as things to learn from.

 

Some of the players mentioned some unique training methods like early morning yoga. Care to elaborate?

Well, there are tremendous health benefits to Yoga. I am not afraid to call myself a Yogi for life. I used it as a way to build flexibility for their shots and also as an effective way to wake them up when we went on our team retreat at Rockwell Lodge in Luther, MI this summer. I laughed at them for working so hard. I don’t think many of them realized how intense a half hour of Yoga could be, they were sweating hard, and breathing heavy.

 

What are some of the finer courses you’ll get to play on now that you all are a D-II team?

There are many legendary designers of golf courses. One such designer is Donald Ross. We just recently played on a course he designed in Ohio. We will get to play on the exquisite Harborside International Golf Course in Chicago this year, as well as incredible courses up north. If you’re a Hillsdale golfer you will get to play some of the best courses in the country.  Our motto is Strength Rejoices in the Challenge, and we embrace it by playing some of the country’s best.

 

What is you philosophy when it comes to coaching and motivating your players?

I am a positive leader, but I am also a big believer in the component of personal responsibility when it come to your golf game. Take responsibility for making yourself better, and take each game as a learning experience. I agree with what philosopher and Charger golf athlete Brad Mitzner says every time he walks on to a course, “Where is the first tee, and what’s the course record?  I want all my players to have that mentality.