BILLINGS — Jim Lewis was not a golfer. Ordinarily, that’s no big deal. There are a lot of non-golfers in this world.
The problem for Lewis was his new job in sales. Lewis quickly realized that his boss and many of his clients liked to golf, and that if he wanted to seal a deal or two, well, it might behoove him to learn to play the game “without being embarrassed,” he said.
So, he bought a membership for Canyon River Golf Club, a public course established in Missoula in 2006. Lewis ventured out nearly every night, and after a bit of this, his wife Jessica gave him a bit of an ultimatum: If this were to continue, Lewis would have to take one of their three children with them, either Dylan, Tucker or Katie, then 7 years old.
“My older boys didn’t show much interest and Katie right away wanted to go,” Lewis said. “That is how it all started.”
Jim purchased a three-club junior set and had Katie drive from the 150-yard marker. To Katie Lewis, it was love at first swing and she soon began calling her father at work to see if they were hitting the course that night.
“Every night,” Jim said.
Thus, a star was born. The Frenchtown High School senior has put together a dominating three years in Class A golf, winning the last two state championships by 17 and 12 strokes, respectively. Katie Lewis has won all eight of her events this year with a 73-stroke average and has lost just one high school tournament since her freshman season.
Last year’s title was particularly impressive. State tournaments are two-day events, and Lewis trailed Ashley Maki of Polson by four strokes after the first round. The undaunted Lewis, battling a shoulder injury, fired a 69 on the second day to somehow win going away, a prime example of the mental acuity she possesses to match — or even exceed — her shot-making abilities.
Frenchtown golf coach Tim Yeager hypothesizes that every great athlete has a turning point on which all future success hinges. Yeager and Lewis both agree that that fulcrum came in Lewis’ freshman year when it was she who saw a first-round lead at state disappear.
Lewis finished third, a fine accomplishment for a freshman. To Lewis, though, it was a disappointment, prompting Yeager and Lewis to deconstruct the weekend in order to figure out went wrong and how to correct it.
“We analyzed the two things that we thought hurt her that freshman year,” said Yeager, who became the Frenchtown coach that same season but has known Lewis since she was in the sixth grade. “And that was putting and just being able to let things go, not letting one mistake turn into two.”
Putting skills can be honed. So, too, can the mental aspect. To help with that part of the game, Lewis decided to play as many high-pressure tournaments as possible. She began turning her summers into her own personal tour, playing all over the country.
Not only did competing against some of the top players in the world — Lewis was close to the top 15 after the first round of the Junior World Championships at Torrey Pines in San Diego last summer and eventually made the cut — show her the level she needed to be at technically, it also reinforced to her that the main competition is between her and the golf course.
If she hit a bad drive, or a bad second shot, or had a bad hole even, no matter. Her game is solid enough that par can always be salvaged.
“I can't control whatever anybody else does,” Lewis said. “The only thing I can control is what I could do on the golf course.”
That laser-sharp focus helped Lewis power through her junior year of competition. Lewis suffered a torn labrum during her sophomore basketball season, and though rehabilitation exercises helped her get back on the course, it still wasn’t easy.
Plenty of Advil, athletic tape, and ice packs — bags of frozen corn worked the best since they could be molded into any shape — were needed. Still, by the time the state tournament rolled around, her shoulder was barking.
Again, it was time for mind over matter, and in true Lewis fashion she turned that four-shot deficit into a 12-stroke win.
“It was a lot of telling myself it doesn't hurt, and just, you know, just really putting myself in the spot where I needed to not worry about my shoulder and just play golf,” Lewis said.
Lewis eventually had surgery and is now 100% as she closes out her high school career.
Last summer she became the first female golfer in the state to win the Montana Junior State Championship while also being a reigning state high school champion in consecutive years.
Any pressure to accomplish both for the third year in a row strictly comes from Lewis herself. No outside expectations can exceed what she expects from herself.
“I try to just practice as much golf as I can and practice the things that I can control so that when I get to that time, I know that my golf swing is at a point where that no matter what happens, I can go out and shoot a score that has the ability to win,” she said.
Don’t mistake Lewis for an analytical robot, however. Coach Yeager said that Lewis is a 4.0 student, and despite her success is happy-go-lucky and outgoing on the course.
“The compliments I get from other coaches,” Yeager began, “… like, if you go out on a golf course and you know you're one of the best golfers in the state, a lot of times you give off this presence or this aura. She doesn't really have that. I mean, she's so nice to everybody, and she just, she's the ultimate golfer who can turn the competitiveness on, but also still be able to have fun while golfing.”
Father Jim and daughter Katie still play their rounds of golf a few nights a week. It’s a tradition that’s lasted all these years later.
Katie finds it wonderful that both have improved their games tremendously. For Jim, the continued nightly rounds have much more meaning considering the success Katie has found and hopefully what lies ahead to college golf and beyond. Katie said she has given a verbal commitment to a college program, but hasn’t made that decision public yet.
“I get a little choked up thinking about it,” Jim said about the past decade of father-daughter outings. “She has worked so hard to get where she is at. No one sees the countless hours she spends at the range or on the course fine-tuning her game.
"It is definitely bittersweet to see her finish off her high school career, hopefully on a high note, with a third straight championship. I am so proud of her and know she is going to be an awesome teammate and player in college.”
No matter what happens in the final weeks of her high school career, Katie Lewis has proven it has been no sales pitch.
Playing a round with Katie Lewis
What’s your favorite course to play?
“A few years ago, my dad and I played Spanish Bay at Pebble Beach. … I remember on the 18th hole, they had bagpipers that came out and played the bagpipes while we were going down the fairway.”
What’s your favorite shot to play?
“My favorite thing is just making a long putt. If I can make a long putt, I am happy as can be.”
Besides your mental approach to the game, what is your strength on the course?
“I feel like my main strengths are my driver and then my chipping around the greens.”
What course would you like to play?
“Oh … we haven't played Pinehurst No. 2, we haven't played there. That's a cool Tour event that people play. And then also it’d be really cool to play Augusta.”
