Franklin graduate Damon Dickey has made an immediate impact as a freshman at Butler.
Submitted photo
The perfection Damon Dickey begins chasing the minute he steps onto a golf course won’t allow him to get caught up in specific achievements.
In his mind, what was a par could have — maybe even should have — been a birdie.
Dickey, a Franklin graduate and the Mental Attitude Award winner at last spring’s boys state meet, has produced plenty of both as a freshman for the Butler men’s team.
Maintaining a positive mindset plays a big part.
“Golf is such an individual sport, so you’re playing against yourself,” Dickey said. “I don’t know if I ever get upset with myself. It’s more about hitting a good shot and improving as a golfer.
“I’ve figured out that’s the only way to play good golf. There’s no need in being angry.”
Like any student-athlete transitioning to new friends, classes, living quarters and coaching, Dickey has had to adapt.
The process has contained the occasional rough patch, but Dickey feels it’s one that has aided in his maturity both on and off the golf course.
“What’s been different for me about college golf is the lifestyle. This independence has been different, but it’s been good for me learning how to balance what you have to do,” Dickey said. “Time management has been the biggest challenge, but it’s been a lot of fun.”
On Monday, the Bulldogs opened their two-day spring invitational at Highland Golf Club in Indianapolis, a 15-team event that includes seven other in-state teams, including Indiana, Ball State, IUPUI and UIndy.
Dickey entered competition having taken part in all seven tournaments and boasting Butler’s second-lowest 18-hole average at 74.22 strokes.
Only one of his Butler teammates, redshirt freshman Daniel Tanaka, has also had his scores factored into every tournament.
First-year Butler coach Colby Huffman, a 1995 Carmel graduate who played at Purdue and spent last season as a Bulldogs volunteer assistant, is impressed by the maturity Dickey exhibits during — and even before — competition.
“Damon is really smart about playing these golf courses,” Huffman said. “He researches the course ahead of when we have our team meetings about the course. It’s really impressive to watch him prepare and calculate his way around the course.
“It’s pretty rare for most college players.”
Dickey is coming off tying for 10th place at the Dan Denbow Invitational earlier this month in Jacksonville, Florida. He also has a pair of 11th-place efforts, both during the fall season.
While in high school, Dickey’s winter months were dedicated to playing basketball for the Grizzly Cubs. This year, he instead spent February and March playing Butlers’ early spring tournaments.
“The road trips have been fun, too. We have been to Florida three times already, and that’s another change,” Dickey said. “I had never played golf in February and March before. In the past, that was more my rest period from golf.”
The freshman has already walked to the first tee as Butler’s No. 1 golfer — a distinction he prefers over other spots in Huffman’s lineup.
“We kind of jump around in the lineup, but I do prefer to play the 1 so I can play the other team’s best player,” said Dickey, who is majoring in economics. “But whether I’m the 2 or the 6, I just know I have to get better at golf.”
