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CINCINNATI - One of the primary reasons behind Austin Squires' decision to continue his golf career at the University of Cincinnati instead of Kentucky or Eastern Kentucky was the presence of Doug Martin, who's in his 11th season as the Bearcats' coach.
"I knew that I could come in and play right away and I also knew that Coach Martin would help me with my game extensively," Squires said. "I felt that he could help me progress more than the other coaches could."
After two years, it appears that Squires' assessment was right on the money. Last week, he was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Just a sophomore, the Ryle (Ky.) High School product also became the fifth player in UC history to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. And he set a school record with a season stroke average of 71.71, four strokes better than his freshman average of 76.
He credits Martin, who played eight years on the PGA Tour, for helping him accomplish so much so fast.
"I've always been a pretty good ball striker," Squires said Tuesday, "but the way I played golf courses put a lot of stress on my ball-striking, so I'd have to strike it very well to play well. Last year after finishing (the season), we figured out that my putting had really been hindering me to play well every week. Over the past year Coach Martin and I worked on my putting and short game and decision making. That allowed me to be more consistent no matter how I strike the ball."
Squires wasn't unusual in his need to develop a more effective short game.
"It's something that kids aren't taught growing up," Martin said. "It's really managing your game. If you can only play well when you're hitting the ball well, you're not going to last very long in this game. You've got to be good when you're not good. Part of that is understanding how to manage what you do. His ball striking when he came on campus was far ahead of most incoming freshmen as far as his driving accuracy, his driving distance, his ball flight, all those things were in a pretty good advanced state."
Squires is the first UC player to qualify for the NCAA Tournament since David Tepe in 2013. UC's other three NCAA qualifiers are George McManis (1965), Geoff Hensley (1969) and Jon Nichols (1974).
Before he arrived at UC, Squires had already made a name for himself. He was the stroke play medalist at the 2015 Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Amateur and tied for third at the 2014 American Junior Golf Association Under Armour/Scott Stallings Championship in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. At 16, he became the youngest player ever to win the Northern Kentucky Amateur. And he helped Ryle to three top-10 finishes in the Kentucky state tournament.
He credits his father, Drew, for introducing him to the sport.
"I've had a club in my hand pretty much since I could walk," he said, "but I didn't really get into until I was about eight."
At 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, Squires averages 310 to 315 yards off the tee, which Martin says puts him in the top five percent to 10 percent nationally, which was a good start, but not enough to get him where he wants to go.
"The key points to be consistent and to score well on a regular basis were missing," Martin said. "His ball striking really hasn't changed a whole lot from his freshman year to his sophomore year, but his ability to make smart choices, his ability to leave the ball strategically in places from where he's always going to score has been significant and then just adding to that, he's a better putter."
Squires, a 20-year-old finance major, finished fifth in the American Championship. He won the conference Player of the Year award based on what he did during the entire season when he led the league with six Top-5 finishes. The Bearcats finished second in the American Championship, their highest finish in a conference tournament since 1994.
As Martin explained it, the NCAA Tournament field includes 81 teams, 30 of which are automatic qualifiers who have won their conference titles. Those teams are divided among six regions, where they compete to advance to nationals. There also 45 individual qualifiers. Squires qualified based on his national ranking of No. 142.
He'll play in the regional May 15-17 at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. The nationals are May 26-31 in Sugar Grove, Calif. To advance that far, he'll have to shoot the top score among golfers not on the top five teams that advance from the West Lafayette
regional. Only one individual golfer advances from each regional.
"I know the golf course is going to be tough," Squires said. "I know I'm going to have to strike it well off the tee and put myself in good positions on that golf course because it's very difficult. But I believe with good decision-making and solid play I can finish in the top five and hopefully make it to nationals."
He has set his long-range goals a lot higher than that.
"I want to play on the PGA TOUR," Squires said. "My dream is to be the best player in the world and have a few majors."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January 2015.