June 29—CHAMPAIGN — Mike Small goes hands off with the Illinois men’s golf team during the summer.
The Illini coach understands that his golfers need a break. Not from the sport — they’ll play all summer long — but from him after months of instruction in a “season” that encompasses an entire school year.
“I’ve coached them up hard for eight to nine months,” Small said. “They know what I’m going to say in every meeting. They know how I’m going to evaluate their games. This is a time for them to own their own game and a time to have responsibility and take what we’ve talked about about all year and do it themselves. Be self-sufficient. Grow as a player and own it.
“They’re out there playing. That’s what they’re supposed to do. Playing professional golf and being a golfer is a year-round deal. It’s a lifestyle. It’s not just a hobby. They’re supposed to take what they’ ve learned all year, apply it this summer and come back stronger next fall.”
Small’s own break from coaching doesn’t mean a break from golf either. His focus simply turns to his own game. The long-time Illinois coach defended his Illinois Senior Open Championship title on Tuesday in Addison and will mark his second start on the PGA Tour Champions circuit at the US Senior Open Championship on Thursday in Stevens Point, Wis.
“I tend to play a lot better — and the kids know this — once they leave town,” Small said. “I don’t have to worry about them anymore. When my mind is on them and what they’re doing every day, it’s kind of hard to put it on my own game. But I played so much in my life and played professionally golf so long all over the world that I can kind of fake it, if you will, for a while.”
Small faked it into a top 25 finish earlier this month at the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wis. — an event hosted (and won) by former Illinois teammate Steve Stricker. Small shot a 2-over 74 in the first round at University Ridge Golf Course before rallying with a 68 and 69 in the final two rounds to shoot up the leaderboard and pocket just over $23,000.
“It surprised me,” Small said of his efforts in Madison. “I qualified for the US Senior Open on the way to the national championships, so I knew I had that to look forward to. I couldn’t prepare for (the American Family Insurance Championship) because our season kind of runs right up to it .
“I made some progress in the pro-am and practice rounds. I just made a lot of mistakes. I was nervous. I just didn’t feel comfortable, but birdied two of my last three that first round to salvage a decent round . It would have been really ugly. I shot two low rounds the last two days and moved way up.”
The 57-year-old Small has played consistently — when his schedule allows — throughout his tenure as Illinois coach. He sees it as a positive for the program. Being a coach that competes at a high level professionally adds to his recruiting pitch.
Getting to focus on his own game during the summer is the benefit.
“It’s nice to get away and have time for myself and my own game instead of nine other young people,” Small said. “The summer is a break for me, too. We’re recruiting and trying to build next year’s team — I do that almost every night — but during the day, playing is important to me. I think that’s been a big, huge part of this program and growing it and getting it accepted that the coach still competes in majors and PGA Tour events.
“I want to go make a little money and compete. If you’re a player, you’re always a player, and if you’re a player, you want to play good golf. You want to do it well. If I don’t play well, it bothers me as much as it does my guys.”
Small shot rounds of 69 and 70 to finish at 5-under overall and win his second straight Illinois Senior Open Championship at the Preserve at Oak Meadows in Addison earlier this week. He trailed by one stroke heading into the final round and beat Frankfort’s Mark Small in a playoff.
Another strong two days on the golf course as Small moves from coach to player during the summer.
“All I do every day as a coach is evaluate,” Mike Small said. “I evaluate our players. I evaluate recruits. I evaluate our practices. I evaluate, evaluate, evaluate and evaluate. The worst thing you can do as a player is evaluate yourself while you’re playing.
“It always takes me a while to get out of that mode, and I feel good when I get out of it and just go compete. … I’m making some swing adjustments. If I can get that stuff figured out by the US Senior Open, I might be a sneaky pick. Who knows?”