T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON Marshalltown senior Nate Vance, front middle, signs his National Letter of Intent to join the Loyola Chicago golf program in the fall. Joining Vance at the table are his mother Anne and father Jeff, while behind are, from left, MHS head golf coach Lucas Johnson, brother Jon Vance sister-in-law Samantha Vance.

Ever since he was a little boy, Marshalltown senior Nate Vance has dreamed of someday donning a college uniform and playing ball.

The original hopes for the reigning Class 4A golf champion weren’t on the links, however.

“I was always a baseball guy,” Vance said. “Now golf has been a little more recent, but if you would have told me in fifth or sixth grade that I’d be going to play Division I golf I’d say absolutely, I’d have a big smile on my face.”

His younger self must be beaming from ear to ear now, as Vance has officially signed his National Letter of Intent to join the NCAA Division I golf program at Loyola Chicago.

This process to join the Ramblers, Vance said, actually started after his first foray into the state golf meet his junior season.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON Marshalltown senior Nate Vance signs his National Letter of Intent with Loyola Chicago while his family and coach look on in the team room of the Roundhouse on Tuesday.

“They recruited me after my junior year, we got in touch and we stayed in touch,” he said. “With the school being really pricey we weren’t sure it would work out because golf only gets four and a half scholarships for an entire team, so we were thinking maybe a 40 percent scholarship but they ended up making a great offer with a lot of academic money, which was very appealing.”

Winning an individual state championship as well as a team state championship, particularly the way Vance did by eagling the 18th hole at Elmwood Country Club in the first round of a four-way playoff, was bound to raise some eyebrows around the golf world. Before long, Vance had teams from all over the spectrum — from junior college to top D-I programs — knocking on his door.

“There were a couple of D-I schools I was looking at, took a visit to North Dakota State, took a visit to Iowa, took one to Indian Hills who recently won a [NJCAA] national championship, but it all just kind of panned out what the offers were going to be and financially what was going to be acceptable,” Vance said. “I took my visit a couple of weeks ago up to Loyola and it’s a beautiful campus and even better academic place to study for an education.”

What truly drew Vance to the Ramblers, he said, was head coach Eric Hoops.

“[Coach Hoops] is a new coach, came in two years ago with a struggling program. He golfed at Loyola and that’s where he wants to be over the next 20 or 30 years, so he’s bought in 100 percent,” Vance said. “He is 100 percent on making the program better, and that’s the type of guy I want to play for.”

Over his tenure, coach Hoops has revitalized the Loyola Chicago golf program, bringing in quite a bit of fresh talent to represent the Ramblers. Vance said he looks to be the newest fresh face to bring some rejuvenation to the Chicago golf scene.

“I hope I can get in and play right away in the fall, then continue to play for the next three and a half years after that,” Vance said. “[Hoops] came in and they were struggling, so he had to make a couple of tough moves and kick some kids off the team so they are very young now, which means there is a lot of potential and I think they are swinging upwards, and that’s a team I want to play for.”

In the state of Iowa, Vance has played against some great talent, but nothing compares to the field of future PGA Tour players and major winners that he will face at the next level. That is a challenge, however, Vance said he is up for.

“At some point you have to figure out if you are going to be the best, and you have to beat the best eventually,” he said. “Going against tougher competition is only going to make you better, so when you go to a school where you are not going to be the guy and are vying for a spot, you are playing against guys who are going to be kicking your butt so you have to work harder, keep you head focused and see how good you can get.”

It’s no secret that the city of Marshalltown is entrenched in the golf scene. Having not one, but two 18-hole courses quite literally across the street from each other in Elmwood and the American Legion Memorial Golf Course provided Vance a place to hone his craft, but he said it is truly the people that make Marshalltown such a special place for golf.

“I was very fortunate to be on a really good golf team with a lot of really good guys who are pushing you to the next level,” Vance said. “I think we all had a common goal, we wanted to win a state title and when you win a state title you are playing better, you get more attention on yourselves, and the community was behind us 100 percent.

“When you have so many people saying congratulations or patting you on the back, it’s easy to be successful.”

Marshalltown head golf coach Lucas Johnson is one of those influential people in Vance’s golf career, but Johnson said Vance has almost influenced him more.

“It’s hard to overstate what Nate meant to Bobcat golf over his four years. Naming him team captain for his junior and senior year was about the easiest decision any coach has ever had,” Johnson said. “He’s a kid who loves to compete and who makes those around him better. Going all the way back to his freshman year when tied the school record for nine holes in a dual meet versus then No. 1 ranked Waukee, we knew we had a special talent.

“I know Loyola understands they’re getting a great golfer, but I’m not sure they know just how great of a teammate they’re getting. Nate is a kid who truly made the culture around our program better and I know he’ll do the same thing for the Ramblers.”

As for any aspiring college athletes who look up to him, just like he looked up to the older generation when he was dreaming of competing at the next level, Vance had a few sage words of advice on how to be successful in the sport of your choice.

“I think staying strong mentally is most important, keeping a positive attitude in sports is the most important part more than the physical,” he said. “I see guys with huge amounts of talent that just throw it away because their mental game isn’t tough. If you are confident, not cocky, you are already three steps ahead of everyone else.”