Hiland golfer Bille taking his smooth swing to MVNU

For the past four years, Camden Bille has been honing his golf swing for a Hiland program that has racked up some impressive results.

Recently, Bille gathered with family and friends at the Reese Center at Hiland High School to celebrate his official signing to play next season at Mt. Vernon Nazarene University.

According to Hiland head coach Austin Kaufman, Bille improved his game dramatically over the course of his four seasons at Hiland, dropping his average score per nine holes by five strokes and his 18-hole improvement checking in at eight strokes.

“He was probably one of my most dedicated players,” Kaufman said. “If he had a problem, he went out to the course and tried to solve it. He never got too upset about too much and knew what he had to do and then went out and made it happen.”

Kaufman said one of the senior’s best traits was making not only himself better, but also the players around him. He said Bille’s abilities have only touched the tip of the iceberg, and he expects to see his game flourish at MVNU as he continues to improve his game.

“He’s a good leader and is always thinking about his teammates,” Kaufman said. “He’s very unselfish like that.”

Bille’s effort helped the Hawks earn a spot at state his junior campaign, where Hiland placed fourth and Bille scored an 82 and 84 to place 28th overall. He then fashioned a 75 at districts during his senior season, which earned him medalist honors and a spot as an individual at state, where he duplicated his prior season’s scores of 82-84 to finish 36th overall.

Bille said competing in a program like Hiland over the past four seasons has taught him a lot, and he credited Kaufman with galvanizing his game and giving him every opportunity to improve and develop his talent.

He said that experience has prepared him well for the challenges of college golf.

“I think it’s just keep it simple and not try to overdo anything, just work hard and get better each day,” Bille said.

He said playing under Kaufman has been especially important because it helped him develop the mental part of the game, something he said is critical to success.

“Golf is all mental,” Bille said. “If you’re not good mentally, you’re not going to score well, and coach taught me that along the way.”

He said when he first came into the program, he often would get mad and frustrated with himself when things went awry. However, he said now he doesn’t allow a poor shot to dictate his round and his mental outlook.

That aspect of Bille’s game didn’t escape MVNU head coach Mike King, who said Bille’s game is ideal for play at the next level.

“He’s a quality young man, and he’s got a lot of potential, a lot of upside,” King said. ‘He’s got a lot of character, and he’s a nice athlete, so I’m looking forward to having him over the next four years as he develops and performs. I’ve not heard anything bad about this young man.”

King said coming from a successful program like Hiland adds to the allure of adding Bille to his crew.

Bille said while he may be an incoming freshman, he believes in himself and his ability and feels like he can compete right out of the gate.

“I don’t really want to sit on the bench and wait around,” Bille said. “It’s exciting that I can step in and be an asset right away.”

He said throughout the program he’s been blessed to be challenged by great players every day in practice and matches, having played alongside All-Ohioan Carter Mishler and Brookston Hummel in his early years and then competing with talented teammates Jack Mast and Andrew Beun, with whom he competed for the top spot week in and week out this past year.

“We all love to compete and hate to lose, and that helped me grow, and that’s going to happen at Mt. Vernon too,” Bille said.

Bille will study graphic design at MVNU.