G-Prep Grad Coming To The Fore

Katie King’s love affair with golf was on the rocks during the autumn of 1995. King, a 1994 Gonzaga Prep graduate who attends Notre Dame University on a golf scholarship, said there just wasn’t any joy left in golf.

Practice wasn’t fun. No tournament could cure her doldrums. Despite winning the campus championship for the second year in a row, King’s average rose from 81 her freshman year to 85.

“I was really burned out, and I didn’t have any confidence in my game,” King says. “I didn’t enjoy the game that fall.”

Following her team’s last tournament in October, she began to assess her season.

In spite of her modest credentials - King finished fifth at the Washington state high school championships during her senior year at G-Prep - she had surprised Notre Dame coaches with her freshman showing, which had included several top-10 tournament finishes.

But the competition never let up. After coming home to Spokane, she took part in six area events. The pressure, she now believes, simply began to get to her.

In retrospect, King says, she probably should have used the summer break following her freshman year to relax and put things into perspective.

“I think that competitive golf is good,” King says. “But I’d never played that many months in a row before in my life.”

Manito Country Club pro Steve Prugh has coached King, who grew up on the South Hill, on and off since she just 8. After her slump began, she sought his wisdom. What should she do?

On Prugh’s advice, King didn’t pick up a golf club from the last tournament in 1995 until the team resumed practice in February 1996. Hoping to conquer the pressure, she also participated in sports psychology sessions offered to the team over the winter layoff.

Prugh said he wouldn’t necessarily recommend the “more is less” approach to everyone. But for King, 20, who calls her game “99 percent mental,” it seemed like it was the ideal solution.

“It all depends on how your mind works,” Prugh said. “Katie has good, natural ability, and she’s really strong. But she is very hard on herself.”

Mick Franco, sports psychologist for the Irish athletic department, said his sessions with King and the rest of the golf team focused on how to bring their collective mental game back in order.

On tournament days, Franco said, a golfer often shoots 36 holes a day. Out of that time, he explained, players are probably coming into contact with the ball for only 10 seconds.

“You better believe that if they’re not mentally prepared for the other 7 hours and 59 minutes when they’re thinking about the game, they’re not going to be able to perform like they are capable of,” Franco said.

King used programs designed by Franco to relax, concentrate, visualize success and set effective goals.

Apparently it worked.

By the time spring tournaments concluded, King’s average had dropped to 80. And King set a Notre Dame record by averaging 78.08 in six fall tournaments. Her season highlight was a one-under round of 72 - another school record - during a second-place finish at a tournament at Illinois State in September.

“It was just like a 180-degree turnaround,” King says now. “I was a totally different person. Golf was fun again.”

Her coach at Notre Dame, Ross Smith, said if King follows her fall season with a strong spring, she has a good chance at qualifying for the 1997 NCAA tournament.

“Katie has always hit the ball hard and straight and has a good short game,” Smith said. “But her mental approach needed some work.

“After getting some guidance in that area, she has a great mindset now and truly believes in herself.”

Prugh predicts she will become the most successful golfer in Notre Dame history. She is currently ranked third in the Midwest Division, which includes all the Big 10 schools.

King has always been an athletic golfer, Prugh said. After bringing her mental game into order, Prugh said the most striking improvement in King’s game has come in how she manages a course.

Longer courses are used now in women’s play, he said. With her bold style from the tee and her ability to hit the ball high and hard, Prugh believes King may have the potential to play professionally some day.

King, too, admits the thought of taking her game to the next level has crossed her mind. Following spring play, which begins Feb. 21 in Arizona, King has another full season at Notre Dame to hone her skills.

“I want to give it (playing professional golf) a shot,” she says. “I don’t want to look back in 10 or 20 years and ask, ‘Why didn’t I try?’ “