FARMVILLE, Va. (EYT) – For Punxsutawney product Willie Hoover, golf was not always his favorite sport. But, after a pivot late in his sophomore year of high school, it’s been the game that’s taken him on a wild and unexpected path over the last eight years.
(Photo above: Courtesy Brett Whitling)
As a young kid from Punxsy, Hoover played a collection of sports, including baseball, basketball, and football.
Golf was more of an afterthought and something he didn’t enjoy. He won a junior club championship in golf in elementary school, but this was almost the extent of his passion for the sport.
“My Dad (Todd) was excited when I won this tournament because he thought I could do something special in the sport,” he noted. “But, I honestly told him not long after that I thought golf was stupid, and I didn’t want to play anymore. I was more worried about playing baseball.”
It probably goes without saying that Punxsutawney is a baseball and softball town after looking through archives of the rich talent that’s played for the Chucks. It’s hard to fault Hoover for sticking with baseball for a while, but over time, he knew something was missing. He took an old set of his dad’s clubs and headed out to play some golf just a couple of weeks before his junior golf season was set to start. Not long after, he started falling in love with the sport he once said he wanted nothing to do with.
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He started working with a local swing coach and even walked away from high school baseball for the final two years of his high school career. The additional investment into his golf game started to quickly pay off. He finished in the top 15 in District 9 during his junior year and took a massive leap in his senior year as he led the Punxsy Chucks to a District 9 team title and became the District 9 individual champion in 2017. He also won the Bavarian Hills Invitational and DuBois Invitational, while finishing 13 overall in the state in his senior season.
The consistency in his senior year earned him some opportunities to play college golf, something he fully hoped was possible but was unsure may happen heading into his senior year. Recruits typically gain attention in their sophomore and junior seasons, but Hoover had garnered little interest predominantly because he was new to the scene. An offer that was enticing to him was a scholarship offer from nearby Clarion University because it was a chance to stay close to home and play in one of the premiere Division II conferences in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
Photo courtesy Kirkland Photography.
Hoover joined the Golden Eagles in the fall of 2018 and got started with a solid first semester before the winter break began. He placed 16 at the PSAC Championships as one of the conference’s top freshmen and recorded two rounds of a score of 73 at the Glade Springs Intercollegiate and the Hal Hansen Invitational. However, his career took a turn after the fall semester. He was not playing his best golf for the next two semesters and COVID-19 also forced his spring and fall 2020 seasons to be canceled. On the bright side, he was granted two additional years of eligibility if he elected to use them.
After returning to golf in the spring of 2021, Hoover proved to be ready for competition and had worked through some aspects of his life and golf game that were holding him back. He began working with Easton Renwick, a former professional golfer who is also from the area. Hoover shot a then career-best 72 in the opening round of the Cecil Spadafora Invitational in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and ended the tournament tied for 11 overall. He also finished 22 overall at the PSAC Championships and knew that he had plenty of room to grow from his junior year. His senior year was one in which he put things together. He earned his first career win as an individual and also helped to lead the Golden Eagles to their first team win in more than a decade at the Grove City College Invitational, held on September 9, 2021.
After graduating with his degree in sports management with a minor in athletic coaching with a focus in kinesiology. Hoover entered the transfer portal in search of a Division I scholarship. This had been his goal for over five years, but it was not something that came easily to him. Out of high school, he did not have any scholarship offers at the highest level. When he entered the portal in 2022, it was more of the same. There were a few leads that dried up, but in early August, the one opportunity he needed came to fruition.
Hoover was playing well in the summer of 2022 and caught the attention of his future coach Kevin Fillman, one of the longest-tenured coaches in Division I college golf today. Fillman knew with the scores Hoover was producing at the United States Amateur qualifier and Western Pennsylvania Amateur Championships that summer (11 overall), he could be a missing link his team needed to fill out a talented roster. In early August just two weeks before school started, Hoover made the trip to southern Virginia with his family to see campus and learn more about the opportunity. Once he was offered the scholarship and opportunity to be on the team, Hoover knew life worked out exactly how it was supposed to at this moment.
Just a week later, Hoover headed to Farmville, Virginia, to begin his fifth season of college golf and start working on his Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a focus in marketing. Hoover became a golfer who was on the fringe of being a starter or first reserve for the 2022-23 season. He started in seven matches throughout the season and averaged a 75 for the campaign.
Hoover Big South Title – Photo courtesy Todd Drexler/SESPORTSMEDIA.com
His best finish of the season came at the TSU Big Blue intercollegiate where he finished 12 overall with scores of 73-69-70 and one under par for the entire event. But the biggest moment in the 2022-23 season came in April and May as the Longwood Lancers men’s golf team won their first Big South Conference championship in program history. The tournament came down to the wire, and Hoover’s teammate Daniel George helped the Lancers win the conference title in a playoff in come-from-behind fashion to send the team to NCAA Regionals.
“It was surreal to see that six-foot putt go down for Dan,” Hoover explained. “It was clutch and something I will never forget.”
Heading into the back half of his sixth college season, Hoover is averaging a 73.4 so far and is hopeful it will be the Lancers repeating as conference champions. He admits that this will be no easy feat, but both he and his teammates continue to put in the time it’ll take to hoist the Big South Conference trophy again come April.
“This has been a great team, and I’m thankful to be a part of it. We are very competitive with one another and it helps us continue to grow as players. I really appreciate it because I’m a perfectionist and a very competitive person.”
As he gets ready for one last run through the spring season of college golf, Willie Hoover is thankful for all the people he’s met along the way through his golf journey and for his loved ones whose support never wavered. His golf mentors Easton Renwick, Justin Moose, Ed Morasco, and Mark Goetz helped him in different parts of his game and introduced him to many prominent figures in the golf community.
His head coach at Longwood, Kevin Fillman, is someone he will always appreciate not just for his mentorship, but because he believed in him and he was a missing link for the program. Hoover’s former teammate at Clarion Nick Giambrone is another critical person in his life today and is glad golf brought him. Hoover’s entire family and girlfriend Mira have also continued to be there through the ups and downs golf can bring.
“My family’s support along the way from financially to love will always be important to me. I couldn’t have gotten here without all of their support.
“As I look back on this journey, I’ve learned it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from. If you believe in yourself, even if others may not along the way, you can reach your goals and wildest dreams.”
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