Change in latitude reignites Meek’s game
Golfer had to appeal to get release from Southern Illinois to play for Nevada
Sam Meek was so unhappy with his golf game and his experience at Southern Illinois University he began to question his future in the sport.
In 2016, Meek became the first Peterborough golfer to win a national championship when he claimed the Canadian Junior Boys Championship. He left that fall for Southern Illinois on a golf scholarship with high expectations.
What followed was a season that fell well below his personal expectations. His average per round ballooned from under-par to 76 and he didn’t like his relationship with the coach. He got his game back on track last summer but as soon as he returned to school in the fall his average climbed to 77.
“I went through a time last semester where I was going to focus on what career I wanted to do after college,” Meek, 19, said.
“I was losing hope on the whole professional golf thing. That was always my goal through high school (at Crestwood Secondary School). I was getting sick and tired of seemingly failing over and over again at the college level. I figured maybe I wasn’t cut out for it. I wasn’t happy there and it was affecting my golf.”
In November, Meek withdrew from Southern Illinois. His Canadian golf coach, and Ennismore native, Reg Millage hooked him up with a recruiter in Florida who found several colleges willing to take in Meek. After a couple of visits Meek opted to attend the University of Nevada in Reno.
His former coach would not grant Meek his release, meaning he would have had to sit out a year before he could compete again. Meek then appealed to a Southern Illinois University appeals committee which grant- ed Meek his release.
In January, he joined Nevada and returned to the golf course with a new lease on life. Nevada is a much better team than Southern Illinois and when Meek’s game didn’t immediately turn around he sat out the first two tournaments on the 2018 calendar.
He made his Nevada debut March 9 and 10 in Las Vegas and shot a five-under to tie for sixth overall.
The next event was at Stanford where he tied for 32nd in a tough field of 132. He shot a tournament low 64 on the final day.
He carried that momentum into last week’s El Macero Classic in Davis, Calif. It all came together for Meek who was the only golfer in the field of 81 to finish under-par claiming his first NCAA individual win while helping the Wolf Pack to its first team title this season.
The kid has his game back and his confidence.
“I know exactly what I want to do after school now and I think and have the belief in myself that I can actually do I now,” he said.
It was a tough field with three teams ranked in the NCAA top 31 and tough conditions.
“The last day it was blowing 20 miles per hour without the wind gusts and you were lucky to hit half your greens. I was able to hit six or seven greens and got it up and down every time. I was six for seven on the week out of the bunker which is something I struggle with. I was able to really put it all together.”
Meek said there is strong competition within his team for playing time which he didn’t have at Southern Illinois.
“If you’re not playing well here there is another guy waiting to take your spot so you have to work hard,” he said.
“I like that quite a bit because you feel like you’ve earned it when you’re in the lineup.”