Coach Sue Nyhus is the current UVU Women’s Golf Coach and former BYU Women’s Golf Coach. She is the only player in USGA history to qualify for every single tournament offered to her. She was inducted into the Utah Golf Hall of Fame, Class of 2020.
I’ve worked with her and her team for the past year. I interviewed her and picked her brain on how to help the lady golfers of Utah excel in this game and here is what we have come up with.
What do HS Golfers need to do to prepare for the next level of college golf?
Coach Sue said that high school golfers need the “ability to find outside competition and find ways to improve their ability to compete.”
This is competition that they need to find outside of high school. She states that high school is great but you don’t see the competition that you need in order to know what to expect in college. She threw out the realization that many golf prospects are looking to play college golf and have not even seen a college competition. You would never expect a basketball player to have never seen a college basketball game before even wanting to play college ball.
The only scenario where I’ve seen this happen is Ziggy Ansah. Who has never seen an American football game before, but with some guidance came to Utah and was introduced to football through BYU and played there. It turned out well as he went on to play professionally in the NFL for many years. This story is obviously 1 in a million.
With that being said, HS golfers need to play in all the Utah Golf Association tournaments to prepare for college. Coach Sue goes on to say that there is a myth out there that lady golf scholarships are readily available to anyone who can hold a club and break 80. This is not true, as she has NEVER seen a lady golf scholarship go unused.
What does a college team have that will help the golfer progress to the next level?
A college team experience has a lot to offer. Some of these experiences will take your game to the next level and beyond if you really focus on it. At a university they have a great strength and condition program to help new college athletes. Great coaching to help fine tune your golfing game is also where you will find the most gains.
Finding the gaps in your game, how do you manage the course? Where is your basic knowledge of golf? Breaking things down will build your game in many more ways than you can even think of.
What injuries have you seen among your college golfers?
Coach Sue mentioned that over the past 8 years she has seen more shoulder injuries than ever before. She has no answer as to why but shoulder injuries are occurring at a younger age among elite golfers. Taking care of your body is key and knowing what you really want in life.
It was a great conversation I had with Coach Sue. We look forward to elevating the game of golf in this Utah area.