Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2023 - 22

so it wasn't a fluke! I prefer to call it a 'onehit
wonder.' "
Fluke is inaccurate. And while " one-hit
wonder " may be more apt, its connotation
of a " flash in the pan, " from " out of
nowhere, " catching " lightning in a bottle "
is not. Any deeper-than-clichéd examination
of Lunke's career and life reveals
something else: a talented, driven and
mentally strong athlete who put herself
in a position to capture the biggest title in
women's golf-and seized the moment.
The Straight and Narrow
Hilary Lunke was not groomed early to
be a major golf champion. She was a very
competitive swimmer and softball player
before turning to golf relatively late-not
playing her first 18-hole round until age
13. Lunke had caddied for her dad, MGA
rules official Bill Homeyer, and played the
occasional causal nine-hole round. She
didn't play for her high school team of
Edina until her sophomore year, eventually
winning one individual state title in
1997 and two team titles in '95 and '97. But
things changed when she started competing
against her teammates.
" My teammate Kalen Andersen-who
went on to play collegiate golf and is the
head coach of women's golf at South
Carolina now-we had played softball
together as kids and she was just a great
athlete, " Lunke says. " By the time I was
playing on the Edina team, she was an
excellent player and that pushed me. It
made me strive to be better. "
She asked her dad for help, and Homeyer
showed her the ropes, amazed at her rapid
improvement. " When I'd tell her something,
she could do it almost immediately.
And if you weren't careful, she would
overdo it, " he says.
Not wanting to " screw her up, " Homeyer
turned his daughter's tutelage over to PGA
pros Ron Benson (Indian Hills GC) and
Marty Lass (Edina CC). They soon realized
that coaching the motivated Hilary meant
mostly staying out of her way. After shooting
124 in that first 18-hole round, Lunke
broke 90 two months later and within 22
months broke 70.
" She became such a good golfer so fast, "
22
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2023
mngolf.org
Lass says. " Her parents never pushed her.
So, for Hilary to improve by that much,
you've got to have an internal drive. She
was a very fast learner and kind of a
sponge; she would absorb stuff quickly. A
fairly good natural talent, but the internal
drive she had was something else. "
Lass says there were few weaknesses
in her game: always a straight hitter,
great short game and a very good putter.
Her dad tells the story of Hilary with
Benson, who asked her " What if you
hit the ball here? " and then threw a golf
ball in the woods. Hilary responded, " I
wouldn't hit it there. " Benson asked again
and got the same response, several times,
until Benson said, " OK, you hit an overhanging
tree, it took a terrible kick and
landed here, what would you do? " " Then I
would just chip out, " Lunke says. She knew
her game.
" She never missed a fairway, " Lass says.
" She wouldn't hit it super long, a couple
hundred yards, maybe 220, but it was
right down the pipeline. She wasn't long
but, boy, when you're straight, it's awfully
important-especially in the U.S. Open. "
Major Moment
After becoming a four-time All-American
at Stanford and winning two collegiate
titles, Lunke earned two runner-ups at
the Women's Western Amateur, won the
South Atlantic Amateur Championship
Edina CC pro
(and one of
Hilary's early
instructors)
Marty Lass lines
up a putt for his
former protégé.
PHOTO: MATT SEEFEDLT
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2023

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