History making season under Coach Skiles
Lemont Furnace, PA- Golf had an exciting season that concluded at PSUAC/USCAA Championships this past Tuesday.
The Penn State Fayette Golf team has seen major improvements this season thanks to new head coach, Ron Skiles and assistant coach, Rod Wheeler. Skiles and Wheeler were able to double the roster size and became a threat in the short season. Fayette averaged third place as a team this past season. However, the team's biggest accomplishment was at their final regular season match, where they placed first at Penn State Hazleton's golf invitational. Marking the first victory for a golf team in Penn State Fayette's history of the program. To finish the season, the team managed to place in the top 10 for the USCAA National Championships.
Head Coach Ron Skiles has a vast amount of knowledge of golf, collegiately dating back to 1969. Skiles competed in college for California University of Pennsylvania (now known as Penn West California) while obtaining his degree in education. During his time there he and his team made it to the NCAA Championship in 1972. After performing in an NCAA Championship, it sparked Skiles to continue his love for the game competing in several amateur championships from 1972 to 1992 all over the country. Ron began to play professionally by competing in the PGA Tour from 1992 to 2005. During his time professionally Skiles managed to earn an official tour card, qualify for 15 tournaments, along with advancing to the finals 8 times. One of Skiles biggest accomplishments was being a finalist in the "Dave Pelz World Putting Championship".
Ron's love for the game continued to evolve, by being an instructor for Foxwood Acres golf course for three years. Skiles was then offered the opportunity by Cedarbrook golf course of Director of Golf Instruction in 2003 and continues in the capacity today. Ron decided to share his incredible knowledge with the world by inventing "The Perfect Putting Stroke" in 2009 to teach principals and mechanics of putting. In 2017, Ron was inducted into "The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame" to showcase all his accomplishments. Ron currently holds six course records at various locations.
Coach Skiles shared with us his thoughts on the team and his first season with Penn State Fayette Golf, "When I accepted the position as head coach at Penn State Fayette, I didn't know what to expect from the players in terms of golf skills, golf knowledge or golf experience. As I met each one of them at the practice facility at Cedarbrook Golf Course, I was very pleased with their ability to, at times, to hit very good golf shots. After seeing what they are capable of, I knew that I could teach them how to become more accurate with their shots and how to control the distance of their shots.
Teaching them how to improve their golf swing, how to improve their golf thinking process and how to produce better golf scores, was Coach Wheeler and my coaching goals.
The team consistently got better and better over the few weeks that we had to practice. During our competition days our team improved their standing compared with the other teams. During our fifth competition day we won the team championship in Hazelton, PA at the Valley Country Club. Bringing home that trophy was a happy and prideful moment for all of us."
For more information about our golf team and Penn State Fayette Athletics, visit psfathletics.com