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Nov 14

2019 Boys Golfer of the Year – LaSalle News Tribune

Diets that Work Comments Off on 2019 Boys Golfer of the Year – LaSalle News Tribune

There are many athletes who work hard on their sport.

Then theres Ian Roach.

From reading books, getting private lessons, analyzing video of his swing, staying after practice daily, hitting the weight room and more, the Putnam County senior does whatever it takes to improve his golf game.

Ive studied (golf) like Im studying for a masters degree almost, Roach said.

The many hours spend studied the game and working on his swing has paid off for Roach.

He led the area in average by two strokes with a 36.8, won the Kewanee and Rock Falls invitationals, placed third in the Tri-County Conference Meet, won the Class 1A St. Bede Regional with a 75, finished second in the Aquin Sectional with a 76 and placed fourth at the state meet with a two-day score of 147.

For all he accomplished this fall, Roach is the NewsTribune Boys Golfer of the Year for the second season in a row.

He set really high goals for himself and came really close to getting exactly where he wanted to be, PC coach Chelsi Straughn-Niewinski said. He wanted to contend for a state championship, and he ended up in fourth place so he did pretty well for himself. He worked really hard and spent a lot of time on the golf course all summer and all fall. He definitely earned it.

Hes said it so many times that theres nothing in this world he loves more than golf, so he just wants to be the best he can be at it. He enjoys it so spending hour upon hour on it doesnt bother him. He can play all day and be happy. He has a strong desire to succeed at it so he just works and works and works.

His work has helped Roach come a long way when he started in the backyard with his dad coaching him.

He gave me the baseball grip just thumb over thumb, Roach said. He told me to keep my head down on the ball. Those were my main swing thoughts.

Since he really enjoyed the game, Roach wanted more than that.

At age 10, at the urging of former PC girls golf coach Eric Ciucci, he started golfing in more competitive tournaments.

Roach read Tiger Woods book, taking lessons from the golf legend and adapting them to fit himself.

He gave tips about his diet and tips about how to practice, what not to eat during practice and all that, Roach said. I took notes from that and was creative with it for myself. I wanted to make sure I was not just trying to emulate Tiger but trying to be me, see what worked for me and just get confident with it.

Roach, who hits the weight room hard in the offseason, follows a certain diet - not super strict - that consists of plenty of lean chicken and pork along with drinking plenty of water while e avoiding drinking anything with too much sugar while on the course.

As a freshman, Roach started seeing Butch Haverland, the director of golf at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill, the site of the John Deere Classic.

I was a mid-80s golfer when I met him and at the end of the year I credit my regional and sectional scores to him because my short game and swing was so much better, Roach said. Hes definitely the reason why my mental game is better. Ive learned so much from him that I can do things without him and just look myself and know that Butch would want me to do that.

With all of his research on diet, swing speed and body rotation along with the lessons learned from Haverland, Roach spent hours on the course fixing his own swing.

It was just getting comfortable, Roach said. There were a lot of times wed get done with practice and I would play well, but there were some shots where I thought, I just cant have those. I didnt want those shots in the tournament. Sometimes Id get stumped and stay because I really cared about the tournaments. I didnt want to have an elongated period of not knowing what Im doing then go to a tournament and try to figure out what Im doing.

So after practice, Roach would set up his phone in the umbrella holder of his push cart, take a swing then watch it back and repeat as many times as necessary.

I do what feels best first then go off of how it looks, Roach said. If it feels good but it doesnt look good on the plane all those things for consistency I know about I have to change it.

I would say looking at my swing definitely helped out with 90 percent of what I did along with a tip from my friend (and teammate) Ben (Cyr) or a tip from my coach.

But no matter what fixes Roach makes to his swing or how much he improves, hes never satisfied, and he plans to keep working as he continues his career at IVCC before pursuing a career in golf.

The thing about golf is you can get so much satisfaction from the work you do, Roach said. You can always get better. I look at my rounds and think, I could have taken three shots off. Even after Kewanee (when I shot a 67) I thought of strokes I could have taken off.

BOYS ALL-AREA TEAM

Kevin Chlum can be reached at 220-6939, or at kchlum@shawmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @NT_SportsEditor.

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2019 Boys Golfer of the Year - LaSalle News Tribune

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