Published: May 08, 2008 11:03 pm            

Haye to hit the links for Bluefield State

PRINCETON — The Princeton golf trifecta is complete. Daniel Haye already has his goals set.

“My goal is every time we play — if Jeffrey is playing or Victor is playing — is to beat them,” Haye said, with a laugh, “beat them every time.”

Haye signed a letter of intent Wednesday to play golf at Bluefield State, meaning Princeton now has a representative on each of the three local college golf teams.

Victor Lohr is a freshman at Bluefield, while Haye’s classmate, Jeff McGraw, has already signed with Concord.

“It means we’re really good,” Haye said. “First of all we came in second in the state and then we have three people going to play college golf which is really good and hopefully a fourth person next year in Chandler (Beavers).”

Haye, the son of Princeton golf coach, Pat Haye, helped the Tigers to three straight trips to the Class AAA state tournament, finishing sixth in 2006 and second last season.

“Our goal was to win it this year, but we didn’t because Hurricane has got a really good team,” Haye said. “It was a lot of fun being up there at state, it was nerve-whacking, but still a lot of fun.”

Haye hopes to bring that experience and a winning attitude to the Blues, who continue to improve on the links.

“We were a winning team and I want to help their team win some more,” Haye said. “That’s what I really want to do.

“I want to win, that’s the main thing, just to win. That will help them get better than they are and that’s what I hope to do.”

A golfer for most of his life, Haye played on the Blue Ridge Junior Golf Tour and at Glenwood Middle School before four years at Princeton. Over the last two years, his stroke average was 84, helping the Tigers to a 104-33 record during that span.

“It’s been fun, traveling has probably been the funnest part of about it, but then just playing,” Haye said. “It’s been really enjoyable because you’re going out and being competitive, it’s a really good thing...

He added, with a laugh: “Whenever your dad is the coach, it’s kind of fun too. It’s all right.”

Needless to say, Pat Haye and his wife, Melissa, are pleased to see their son choose Bluefield State, a school where both of them are employed. Daniel’s mother is the head of radiology at BSC, while Pat teaches there on a part-time basis.

“You’re proud of a young man who can go to the next level,” Pat Haye said. “You think you’re playing high school and usually that is it, but to be able to go play golf in college and get your college paid for, that’s a relief on the family budget and just knowing he can help Bluefield State.

“I think it’s the right place for him. It’s a small college and the program there in engineering is what he wants to do.”

Bluefield State athletic director and golf coach Terry Brown has been working to improve the golf team, and Haye plans to compete for a spot in the starting rotation of five as soon as he arrives on campus.

“I hope to, it will be tough, but I hope to at least give them all a challenge,” said Haye, adding about the WVIAC: “There’s a lot of good players out there so it is tough to win.”

Pat added: “The goal is to make the top five over there and I think if we plays like he did this past year he could step right in. It just depends on the other players as well.”

Haye, who chose Bluefield State over West Virginia University, plans to major in civil engineering, with a possible eye toward golf course design.

“I’m just as excited as I can be,” Pat Haye said. “We’re both proud...the engineering program there is outstanding, there are good people there.

“Plus if he falls behind, there is going to be someone there who cares. There are people we know and she knows from working over there for 15 years.”

In addition to golf, Haye also played soccer during the fall at Princeton, and also found time to be an Eagle Scout and a member of the National Honor Society,

“We’re proud of him, part of it is golf, but he’s well-rounded,” Pat Haye said. “He played soccer all four years and played pretty good, he started off in all those years and lost some starting time because the golf interfered.

“To be able to do two sports at the same time, these are not different seasons, that is hard, but we were able to work that out. He’s also a member of the National Honor Society, plus he’s an Eagle Scout so he’s well-rounded, we’ve encouraged him to not just concentrate on just one thing.”

The same goes for his golf. Daniel knows he has work to do to prepare for the next level, although he confident in his length off the tee.

“I need to practice, just mainly my irons...and putting too, so pretty much all my game,” Haye said. “I’ll need to revamp it for college for longer distances, but I don’t really think I’ll have a problem with that because I hit the ball pretty far to start out with.”

Haye knows what he’ll miss most about Princeton. He hopes to find the same relationships at the next step of his life.

“Just being part of a team,” Haye said. “That’s a big thing ...I just love hanging out with friends.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

        

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