(Photo by Junfu Han from Ann Arbor Sports)

 

To say Debbie Williams-Hoak loves sports would be an understatement.

Debbie grew up in Euclid, Ohio where she was a three-sport High School All-American in tennis, basketball, and track . . . but not golf. She wouldn’t pick up that sport until later.

Debbie earned a scholarship to play both basketball and track at the University of Michigan where she turned her focused to track and became a four time Big 10 Javelin Champion and All-American. 

But I’m not finished just yet . . .

Debbie also competed in seven U.S. Olympic Festivals: six for track and once for softball, representing the United States in Russia and West Germany. 

It wasn’t until age 31 that Debbie decided to give golf a try. She quickly jumped from beginner to winning a Michigan Public Links Championship, then being named the Golf Association of Michigan’s (GAM) Female Player of the year in 1993. Debbie turned professional in 1995 and worked exceptionally hard at her game before joining the LPGA Tour in 2000. 

The real question is, what sport didn’t Debbie play? 

The sport she chose to continue for a lifetime though has been golf. Debbie is currently an LPGA Class A Teaching Professional and Director of the Brookside Golf Academy in Saline, Michigan. She is also the lead instructor for the LPGA*USGA Girls Golf Program of Detroit and Greater Washtenaw County. Finally, she is well known and loved by the community of Saline for being an incredible high school golf coach for both the boys’ and girls’ Saline High School golf teams. Debbie earned the 2017 Michigan High School Girls Golf Coach of the Year award and will soon be inducted into the 2018 Michigan Golf Hall of Fame.

Earlier this year, Debbie received the 2018 Sandy LaBauve Spirit Award, the highest honor given to an LPGA*USGA Girls Golf site director. 

We had the opportunity to sit down with Debbie to learn more about her introduction to golf and why she chose this sport in particular to share with everyone around her:

 

Debbie will be attending the LPGA Volvik Championship at Travis Pointe Country Club near her hometown in Saline, Michigan this week.

If you happen to see Debbie at the tournament, be sure to say hello!