Bob Asmussen | Big Ten golf power Illinois finds new challenges
CHAMPAIGN In golf, you always remember your firsts: hole-in-one, course record, tournament victory.
For Mike Small, his favorite first was the Illinois 2009 Big Ten title, the first at the school since he won one as a player in 1988.
We had had several seconds leading up to that, Small said.
To schools in the Big Ten and fans in the Big Ten, the Big Ten Conference is a big deal.
Ive always tried to get my team to understand the value of that conference championship.
If you play good in your conference and you compete successfully, I think it shows you can compete nationally.
Thats always been the biggest step.
Smalls first team title as coach was at Penn States course.
It opened the floodgates, he said.
Small, in his 25th year as Illinois mens golf coach, was a guest on Mondays WDWS SportsTalk at Champaigns Esquire Lounge.
He was joined by his dad Bill, a former Illini basketball standout and captain of the 1963 Big Ten title team.
Illinois athletics has been in my blood since Day 1, Mike Small said.
Through my father playing basketball then my mom (Kay) was a graduate, my wife (Ann) is a graduate, my sons a graduate.
Its kind of in the family.
He took his love for the place a step further, cutting back his playing career to lead his alma mater at the turn of the century.
People asked me why I got into coaching in the first place, and its because I enjoyed college golf, Small said.
Playing major college golf in the Big Ten was something I was proud of doing, and it was a blast.
Under Smalls guidance, Illinois has won 13 of the last 15 Big Ten team titles.
He is itching to add another to the list April 18-20 at the Baltimore Country Club.
Personally, I want this one, Small said.
This is a big deal to us.
Now, we have four new teams.
Four good golf programs coming in.
Theyve all been in the Top 10, Top 20 the last five, 10 years.
This is the first fall in a long time that were not the No.
1-rated team in the Big Ten.
UCLA is one spot ahead of us.
This will be a big deal for any team to win the first Big Ten championship of the expansion time.
Its great for the conference.
Illinois is hosting an NCAA Regional at Urbanas Atkins Golf Club in May.
Thats another first for the program.
Smalls time as Illinois golf coach has flown by, or at least it seems that way.
Twenty-five years ago, its hard to believe its been that long, Small said.
I still feel mentally the same, which is exciting.
I keep getting older and the kids keep staying the same age, which is a challenge.
He quickly rebuilt Illinois into not only a Big Ten contender, but a national power.
Smalls parents were ecstatic when he accepted then-athletic director Ron Guenthers offer to come back home.
I knew that he was going to be successful because I knew what a competitor he was when he was playing, Bill Small said.
Mike had just lost his PGA Tour card and was trying to figure out what was next.
I was trying to have some civility in my life, Mike said.
If youre a professional golfer, the golf game owns you.
Your career owns you.
Its got to be so obsessive and so selfish to be good at this sport.
I needed to break that up, spending more time with my family.
Thanks to two decades of success, the Illinois program is now on a level playing field with the rest of the Big Ten facility-wise.
The Demirjian Indoor and Lauritsen/Wohlers Outdoor complexes rank among the best.
The renovations at Atkins have given the Illini a true home course, too.
There still is an arms race, Small said.
The Illinois facilities were recently featured in a Golf Digest video.
It showcases our facilities fabulously, Small said.
Ours is very functional.
Does he have everything he needs? Actually, were planning discussions now to do even more of an upgrade on our facility, Small said.
We have very generous donors and supporters that are asking us what we need.
Were very lucky, very grateful for that..
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