December 1, 2023 at 11:05 a.m.
Father, daughter among the state’s best at golf and family bonding
By John Dalton
This is a Golf story.
It’s also about words like Respect. Love. Competitor. Determined, and Desire.
Now enter a father and daughter who love and respect each other. Both are determined competitors. And both have the desire to win.
In the past few years, both Mitch Bowers and his daughter Madison have been bringing home some serious hardware playing golf. Mitch last year won the Wisconsin Senior Match Play Championship at Stevens Point Country Club in 2022, and this past summer won the Wisconsin Senior Amateur Championship at Lake Wisconsin Country Club.
Madison just finished her career at the University of Dubuque being selected to the all-conference team for five years (something that may never be done again as Covid allowed students one more year of eligibility) and winning the conference tournament her senior year outright. Their team went to Nationals in three of those five years.
As far as playing competitively against her dad, Madison said, “I used to get a stroke a hole. Now I get about 2-4 strokes per round, depending on how I’m playing. But I’ve never beaten him,” she said. And it’s not like Mitch doesn’t want her to beat him someday. As he told her, “I want you to beat me, but I’m not going to let you!” he said with a laugh. Fighting words indeed!
Golf has a funny way of evening things out. Golf is as much about a certain level of success, as it is luck. “You have to accept whatever golf gives you,” Mitch said. “It’s all about what faces you next. You can’t get mad.”
Mitch is a 1983 grad and a four-year varsity golfer at Dodgeville High School. He played collegiately at UW-Stevens Point before taking some time off from golf after college. By his mid-20s, he took over his dad’s Frito-Lay business and started playing in many golf outings at area courses. He entered his first State Amateur, Wisconsin State Golf Association (WSGA) event at age 33, missing the cut at Racine Country Club.
But he would go on to qualify for many state amateurs in subsequent years with his best finish in 2003 tied for 15th at Blue Mound Golf & Country Club. He’s won countless Club Championships at his home course Dodge-Point Country Club and numerous victories at area Invitational and SWANI tournaments throughout Southwest Wisconsin and Northwest Illinois.
He has twice won the Wisconsin Public Links Association Mid-Amateur at Riverside Golf Course in Janesville to go along with his two most recent state victories.
“I think the most rewarding win was the match play championship because it was so grinding,” Mitch said. He had to qualify on a Monday but because of darkness had to finish qualifying the next morning. He played his two holes early and ended up being the last qualifier. In his first match later that Tuesday morning Mitch won in 20 holes, then won his afternoon match in 16 holes. On Wednesday, he won both 18-hole matches.
On Thursday he found himself playing for a championship and had to birdie the 18th hole to secure the victory. “You’re put in that position for a reason. Everyone playing is just as good as you and they all want to win,” he said. “But you have to do something special to get you in that position.” For Mitch, he told me he hit a 130-yard shot that went in for an eagle which helped him get into that position earlier in the round.
Mitch had a 3-shot lead heading into 15 but lost the next two holes to JT Johnson from Sparta, WI. Mitch could have won it on 17, but 3-putted to give his opponent one last chance. But relief came when he birdied on 18 to seal the deal for his first state match play championship.
The same ‘something special’ thing happened at the senior state amateur as well. “I got an eagle on the first hole and it kind of got me going a little,’ he said. Through 17 holes Mitch knew he had a two-shot lead in the tournament. “Something took over in me!” he said regarding nerves and pressure, “I hit just the most perfect drive and then a 9-iron to about 20 feet from the hole. It was a downhill putt that went five feet past the hole. I made that putt coming back and it was just instant relief!” he said after winning his first state amateur title.
“You can also be on the other side of something special happening playing golf. One year during the state Father/Daughter Championship, our opponent that day hit a hole-in-one to beat us, and in last year’s four-ball state tournament my partner and I were beaten by a hole-in-one,” he said. “So it seems like you have to have a little luck!”
Now, back to Madison. By 8th grade, she knew golf was going to be her sport. She had tried all the other sports and even hunting. “I’ve shot a buck and a doe, and I shot two turkeys with one shot!” she said relating it to a walk-off home run in baseball to win the game. Mineral Point didn’t have a girls’ team so she played on the boy's team. During her freshman and sophomore seasons, she was beaten out in qualifying rounds for tournament play. “We made a commitment that was not going to happen again so we started going to Vitense Golf in Madison to hit balls,” said Mitch regarding the motivating factor to get Madison better, and himself.
“Those were great bonding moments,” Madison said of her dad. “We would hit balls into a net in the garage during winter and would go to Vitense to hit balls once or twice a week. Said Mitch, “I never used to hit balls in the winter but now I do it all the time!”
And it worked! Madison qualified for all matches in her junior and senior years. And the challenges of being a girl on a boys’ team? “It shaped me as a person and helped me in other parts of my life. I’m my dad’s daughter and I wanted to prove to myself that I could make the team. I really had to get over my nerves,” said Madison who made All-Conference her senior high school year.
From high school, she transitioned to the University of Dubuque to study Biology and compete on the golf team. How hard was that transition? “I had two great coaches. Cory Sokol in high school and Dustin Bierman at UD,” she said. “But my dad knew my game better than anyone and he made the transition easiest because I truly had the same coach!”
What is most rewarding to date as a five-time All-Conference selection and all those team and individual achievements? “Me winning the conference outright my senior year!” she excitedly said. “My junior year I was leading the conference tournament after two rounds and finished a disappointing fourth. But my senior year, I was down three strokes with nine holes to play, and, coming back to win it and hugging my dad afterward was just the best!”
Madison earned Academic All-American in 2021. This past year, she is currently taking some time off from competitive golf to concentrate on her studies toward becoming a Physician’s Assistant. “It’s nice just to be able to play golf now versus always preparing for competition, but I’ll be back”
Not only do they cheer each other on in their respective golf competitions, but they both recently played together on a 10-day golf trip to Ireland sponsored by the golf program at the University of Dubuque. When possible, they both caddie for each other in state tournaments, and they have teamed up to play in a few Wisconsin State Father/Daughter tournaments.
“I’ve looked up to my dad all my life, especially with golf,” she said. We’ve had some battles and shed a few tears, but he’s helped shape me not only in the game of golf but for life!”
And until that day when Madison finally beats Dad, which won’t come easy, here’s to a nice family, father/daughter golf story, and all the lessons that golf and its surroundings can teach you. I feel that someday we’ll be reading about more individual wins and perhaps a WSGA Father/Daughter Trophy in the near future for Mitch and Madison Bowers.
