Wittenberg’s Willis breaks 52-year-old course record to add to decorated list of accomplishments
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (BVM) — Cameron Willis has been one of the top amateur golfers the state of Ohio has seen in recent years. After a decorated high school career where he won a state championship as a freshman, Willis has golfed at Wittenberg University the last four years, helping the team to a national championship in 2017. His final golf season at the school was canceled this spring, but that didn’t stop the golfer from going out and making history.
Willis began playing golf as a child while hitting balls on the range with his dad at Eaton Country Club. The 22-year-old quickly developed into a talented golfer under the tutelage of his father — who also played college golf at Wittenberg — and was drawn to the individual aspect of the sport.
“What really attracted me to golf was the fact that it was all on you,” Willis said. “It is what you want to make it and if you practice and put in the hard work you will see the results for yourself.”
Throughout his youth, Willis frequently played in local U.S. Kids Golf tournaments, and once won player of the year for his region through the organization. As a result, Willis was able to play at Pinehurst, a special memory he holds from his youth career.
Poised for a special high school golf career, the Eaton native proved how talented he was right away at the next level. In his freshman season, Willis individually won the state tournament held on the Scarlet Course at Ohio State University Golf Course. He would return to state once again in his sophomore season, and began garnering interest from college programs.
Although he missed out on the state tournament in his final two years, Willis did get to enjoy an experience that not many golfers ever will. In 2015, the 22-year-old qualified for and played in the USGA Amateur Championship held at Olympia Fields.
It was a special experience where Willis got to see some top golfers first hand, including Irishman Paul Dunne — who would hold a lead as an amateur after three rounds of the Open Championship that same year — and 2015 Amateur champ and emerging PGA Tour star Bryson DeChambeau.
“Being a small town kid and then going to play with some of the best in the world was pretty cool,” Willis said. “You get there and you kind of see what you need to improve on. I hit balls next to Paul Dunne and I was just starstruck. To be in the same atmosphere with those types of players was really cool.”
After winning state as a freshman, Willis had talked to several golf programs about playing collegiately. Later in his high school career, the golfer had to decide whether he would want to play for a low-tier Division I team, or play Division II or III college golf. Ultimately, Willis decided on Division III Wittenberg University.
“A big reason why I chose Wittenberg over a Division I school is because when you’re at the top it really doesn’t matter,” Willis said. “For me, it was just about going somewhere that there was a winning atmosphere. I wanted to be at a place where players came in and left after their four years really growing as players. That’s what Wittenberg offered and it is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
There is little doubt that Willis made the right choice. Coming into one of the top-rated programs at the Division III level, the golfer again made an immediate splash as a freshman, tying for first in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament and holding a tie for first going into the last day of the Division III men’s golf national championship.
While he would fall just short individually, Willis’ play would help his team win their first-ever NCAA Division III men’s golf championship. The Tigers golf team would finish eighth and sixth in the 2018 and 2019 championships, respectively, and were again led by Willis who came on strong in his junior year — winning the conference tournament individually.
By senior year, Willis had become a 5.5 handicap player, and averaged a score of 72.6 during 18-hole rounds. The 22-year-old was also at one point ranked No. 6 nationally by Golfstat among NCAA Division III men’s golfers. While Willis and his Tigers’ teammates got to play in the fall, the remainder of Wittenberg’s spring season was cut short due to COVID-19.
“Once our interim coach addressed the team and showed his emotions it really just hit me that everything was over,” Willis said. “Most people on the team were devastated and it’s something I don’t really want to ever re-live.”
Despite the tough ending to his Wittenberg tenure, Willis still accomplished his goal of improving over his four years of play at the school. Averaging in the mid to high 70s coming into the program, he had become a par golfer by his senior season. The Tigers team also accomplished their goal in Willis’ freshman year after winning a national title.
A finance and accounting major, Willis will go on to grad school at Wright State to acquire his MBA. But while he is there, the Eaton native will also join the golf team for one last season of collegiate play. Playing one more year was always an option left on the table for Willis, and after having his senior season canceled at Wittenberg he knew he wanted one more year of college golf.
“Coach Arlinghaus is one of my favorite people and I’m really excited to get to work with him for a year,” Willis said about joining the team at Wright State. “They just won their conference last year and our goal for this year is to win conference by at least 30 shots and make it out of regionals to the national championship. With the way our team has played this summer, I think that is very reachable.”
Although Willis didn’t get to accomplish the goals he had for his senior golf season at Wittenberg, the 22-year-old did still make headlines with an impressive feat early in the summer.
Playing at Moraine Country Club in Kettering, Ohio — a club he plays frequently after joining over a year ago — the star golfer had a special round.
His previous low score at the course had been 66, and he had a prior overall low round of 65. But on June 3, Willis knew he had a special round going. After playing 18 holes with two of his dad’s friends, Willis decided to play another nine with his sister – a member of the Penn State women’s golf team.
The golfer was 3-under through six, and after finishing his front nine with an eagle and two birdies, Willis decided he better play the back nine as well to see what would happen. On the back, Willis joined up with a group his dad was playing with, and followed up his 29 on the front with a 4-under 32.
The result was a course record 11-under par 61 for Willis. Moraine Country Club’s previous course record had stood for 52 years, and it was an honor for the future Wright State golfer to be able to break it.
“It’s really awesome. Moraine is one of my favorite golf courses and just the history behind the course and the fact that the record stood for 52 years makes it a memory to cherish. I hope that I’m able to maintain that record for some time to come and it’s a really cool thing to have under my belt.”
With an accomplished golf career at every level, Willis has put together quite a resume thus far on the links. But the ultimate goal is to get to the top level and play professional golf. Willis thinks he can accomplish it, and if he continues on the same trajectory, it is hard to imagine he won’t.
“I definitely have aspirations of playing professional golf,” Willis said. “My biggest thing has always been to not put too much pressure on myself and I just set my goals to where I think they should be. If I’m able to meet that goal and have the chance to do it, why not take it.”
