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The maturation process is inevitable in life. And oftentimes, it’s most noticeable during the college years.

Such is the case with Joey Lane. But this is not a conversation about the person. More precisely, it’s one about his golf game.

Since he began his career at Virginia Tech, the Great Falls, Virginia product has been a solid, contributing member of the Hokies’ golf team. He played in the NCAA Championships in each of his first three years and has been in the lineup more than he has been out of it.

Rewind to May of 2015 and Lane’s game was somewhat unspectacular. Plateaued, as Lane referred to it. In fact, he averaged a pedestrian 76 in his 18 rounds that spring.

But from the time the team got out of the van upon return from the NCAA regionals in Noblesville, Indiana until now, a new player emerged. He no longer resided on that plateau. Instead, he moved to the top of the mountain, a rather tall one, too, similar to one that can be found in the Rockies.

Last season, while his team was struggling through an uncharacteristically weak season, Lane began to play the best golf of his life. Finishes in the 50s became top-five and top-10 finishes. His junior season culminated in an individual invitation to the NCAA Franklin Regional outside of Nashville.

“The growth of my game has been very steady and gotten progressively better,” Lane said. “I think the word ‘maturity’ is a fair word to use. I think I had it a little bit before, but I didn’t understand what I was doing with my golf swing. I didn’t understand how to put the ball in the hole. It’s the little things that I’ve been doing a lot better.”

One thing that Lane credits for his rise of late has been working with a new coach at home. He now works with John Scott Rattan.

“I got a ton better when I started seeing my first coach and then it just seemed I hit a plateau,” Lane said. “So once I changed coaches again, it was almost like I could put everything that I had done the last two years in college behind me.”

As well as Lane played last season, his game soared to even higher ground during the summer. In late June and early July, Lane won the 2016 Virginia State Amateur Championship, played at his and the Hokies’ home course, the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech.

“I actually felt pretty confident coming in to the State Amateur,” Lane said. “I think it’s a really hard golf course, and if you play it a lot, you see everything a little bit differently. And I also felt really good with my game.”

A confident, happy Lane won the two rounds of stroke play and then fought off some tough competitors to claim the championship. It marked his first win since junior golf. His name on the trophy joined a ‘Who’s who?’ in golf, not just in Virginia, but also nationally and internationally. Golf Hall of Famers are on that list.

“I was really excited coming into that tournament,” Lane said. “I was actually more looking forward to the Eastern Amateur the next week. I had added another wedge to my golf bag and it’s a really short golf course, so I was actually thinking I might be able to win the Eastern Amateur. So I was looking ahead a little bit.”

“The State Amateur is probably the best I’ve ever done at shaking something off,” Lane continued. “I do love match play. It’s much easier, if you lose a hole, to put it right behind you.”

Lane did not have to wait nearly as long for his second victory. Just one week later, he claimed medalist honors at the prestigious Eastern Amateur in Portsmouth, Virginia. By summer’s end, Lane had truly enjoyed one of the greatest summers of any Tech golfer.

“I hadn’t won since junior golf,” Lane said. “It’s hard to think of winning at that point, but I was definitely excited and thinking I could make a good run at it.

“I learned something in the process. Just coming down the stretch, I wasn’t in the lead until the last couple of holes. So I was playing from behind for most of the last day. It was nice playing a match play event a week prior because it allowed me to stay in that mindset. In match play, I played really well … some of the best golf I’ve ever played. So I figured I should just keep playing like it was match play. It helped a ton.”

As summer ended and school started back at Virginia Tech, Lane and his Hokie teammates were ready to begin the fall portion of the 2016-17 season. He knows that this team has the opportunity to be special. Thoughts of last year’s struggles are behind them now. Lane expects added competition to drive this team forward.

“Having these two wins will absolutely help me in the upcoming season,” Lane said. “It’s really hard to win and it gets harder each level that you go up. Now that I’ve won two amateur events, it takes a little pressure off of my self. I’d love to win, but I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself to win.”

And the summer victories have led to tangible results already in the young 2016 Fall season. In the second event of the fall season, Lane won his first collegiate event at the Janney Invitational in Richmond, defeating JMU’s Ryan Cole with a birdie on the sixth playoff hole. It was a double winning day for Lane, as he helped lead the Hokies to the team title in the event.

As team captain, Lane will help lead this talented group in his final campaign. He understands the importance of this duty and how he will have an effect on the entire team – and not just on the course.

“I think this team can go as far as we put our minds to go,” Lane concluded. “If we put in the work now, for the rest of the day, rest of the week, we can take this team as far as we want. And that’s really exciting. I don’t think they really realize how good we can be. It’s exciting. We have four or five guys that can go out and win qualifying.

“I like being in the leadership position with this team. I like helping the younger guys and showing them how it works. “

Yes, maturation is a great thing, especially with a golfer. And maybe this does have something to do with an off-course maturation, as much as the evidence of growth on the course. One can see exactly that in this likeable, happy, young man leading the Hokies.

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