Indiana University golfer Noah Gillard, a Center Grove graduate, follows through on a shot at the Hoosier Collegiate event last April.
The freshmen on the Indiana men’s golf team were eighth-graders when Noah Gillard began his college golf career.
If there’s a geriatric reference to be made, subtle or straight down the middle, the former Center Grove player has probably heard it.
Old man. Grandpa. You get the idea.
“My teammates give me a hard time, but I think it’s pretty funny,” said Gillard, a sixth-year senior who turns 25 in May. “But at the end of the day, nobody cares. All my friends who have graduated say I’m lucky to still be a college athlete.
“The real world will always be out there for me. But the chance to play golf with my friends and represent IU, those days are limited.”
A 2018 CG graduate, Gillard has experienced virtually everything the sport can throw at him, be it good, bad or somewhere in the vast fairway of in between.
He’s endured the long road trips, tested his patience and skills on the most challenging courses and, as is often the case with golf, been on top of the world one minute and somewhere near the opposite end not long after.
With IU’s spring season under way, Gillard’s final months as a college golfer have arrived. In early February, the Hoosiers placed fourth at the Battle at Briar’s Creek in St. John’s, S.C., where Gillard shot a pair of 71s to tie for the fourth spot individually.
The team returns to South Carolina next week to participate in the Colleton River Collegiate.
Gillard’s collegiate longevity is, in some respects, traced to circumstances out of his control. A redshirt season plus an additional year of athletic eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic starting in March 2020 are the main culprits.
As a high schooler, Gillard committed to play his college golf at the University of Illinois. He played for the Illini as a freshman and sophomore, but redshirted during the 2020-21 school year. Gillard eventually chose to transfer to Indiana, immediately becoming a fixture in coach Mike Mayer’s lineup.
While leading Center Grove to its first boys state championship as a junior with a performance worthy of individual medalist honors — he was runner-up the following spring, losing in a playoff — Gillard stood 6-foot-7 and weighed only 155 pounds.
Today, he’s 6-8 and 205, having added muscle to his frame during his years of college.
Once Indiana’s spring season concludes, Gillard will continue to put in the hours of practice in an attempt to live his dream of being part of the PGA Tour.
“I’m going to give golf a go. I’ve talked to my coaches and family about it, so I’ve got great support around me,” said Gillard, who is the No. 2 player in Indiana’s lineup behind senior Drew Salyers. “I expect to play well every day, but everyone on our team is capable of shooting a low number.”
Multiple options exist, including the PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, The Dakotas Tour, attempting to play PGA Tour Canada (where former Trojan teammate Sam Jean debuted last summer) and more.
Brad Fellers, who has been Gillard’s swing coach since the Center Grove days, believes Gillard possesses the game, work ethic and attitude to make a legitimate go at it.
“There are a lot of different ways he can play,” said Fellers, who works at Elevation Golf out of Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel. “He’s got a variety of golf options, but I think he has to try to play some way. Noah is definitely talented enough to give himself the opportunity to do those things.
“He’s always been a great ball-striker. His ability to adjust on the fly … he’s really developed a way of understanding what he can and cannot do. He’s played more tournaments where he’s gotten better as the tournament has gone on than the other way.”
Fittingly, Gillard’s college career has done so as well.
