It has taken some time, but men’s golf junior Liam White has turned into one of the faces of the future for Huskie golf.

White has been the leader of a core group of fellow first-year Huskie golfers in Caulen Coe, Pierrick Fillon and Jake Curwin. White, Curwin and Fillon are the only Huskies who have competed in all four tournaments this season.

NIU head coach Tom Porten saw quite a few things in White that made him stand out at Indian Hills Community College.

“He is a very intense competitor. He is a very driven young man; that was the first thing about him that was a little different,” Porten said. “He competes very hard on the golf course. The other thing that is interesting about Liam: He is a terrific athlete; if you put a basketball in his hands or … a tennis racket he can do just about anything very well.”

White’s top finish came after NIU’s last competition when the Huskies tied for 13th out of 14 during the Erin Hills Intercollegiate, which ended Oct. 1. White tied a Huskie season-low when he shot a 73 during the second round when he tied for 38th place out of 81 golfers.

His 38th-place finish is the second-highest finish by any Huskie so far this season. White has steadily improved each tournament, dropping his score at least a few stokes each time.

The low point of this season for White came when he carded an 89 during the Badger Invitational. White and Porten had worked on changing up his ball striking and where the ball was hitting the club, which was why White was struggling at the beginning of the fall season.

“[Coach Porten] and I decided together that we were going to try something new, and it just did not work out as we hoped it would,” White said. “It was an easy fix for us. We knew we were not going to do down that line. Luckily, the week in between Madison and Erin Hills we were able to find a drill that worked for me, and that is what we are building off of now.”

Porten feels White’s experience at his community college has helped him come in and be a vocal presence.

“Liam is not afraid to challenge the guys in practice or team meetings,” Porten said. “He is very goal oriented. He is helping us develop goal-setting with our freshmen and getting them to really set attainable goals, so he has been very good at communicating what our message is right to the players.”

Looking back and comparing his golfing success at Indian Hills, this season has marked a rocky start for White.

He was a key member of Indian Hills, averaging 73.2 his sophomore spring season to rank 12th in the National Junior College Athletic Association last year. He only had one tournament when he had an 80 or higher compared to the six he has shot almost halfway through this season.

With the 89 he totaled earlier in the year and a few other rounds behind him, White wants to get back to that level of play.

“I can’t be going out there and throwing up 80’s and not helping the team at all,” White said. “I need to get back to where my bad rounds are between 74 and 76.”

White loves the bond he is developing with his teammates and ranks that as one of his favorite things about his time at NIU.

“In general we all get along really well, which is nice to see,” White said. “I know there are a lot of programs out there that you are not only fighting yourself on the course, but you are also having to deal with not being comfortable with teammates, it is nice here that we all get along.”