Before long, Madison Dabagia will call the Pfau Course at Indiana University home. And what better way to kick off that relationship than with a victory?
Any win is satisfying, but Dabagia’s Hoosier Amateur title on Aug. 1 was especially sweet considering she is about to join the Indiana women’s golf roster.
“It just means so much,” she said of the tournament.
Dabagia, an incoming junior transfer, survived two rain delays in the final round at the Pfau (as well as two rain delays in the second round) to finish off the 54-hole Hoosier Amateur at 3 over and two shots ahead of runner-up Katie Scheck, from Ooltewah, Tennessee.
Scores: Hoosier Women’s Amateur
Despite the wet conditions, Dabagia said the course remained very playable. She threw in three birdies in the second round and one in the final round while keeping the bogeys to a minimum, which is not always an easy feat at the difficult Steve Smyers-designed course in Bloomington, Indiana. Pfau ranks third on the Golfweek’s Best list of best public-access courses you can play in Indiana.
“The Pfau is notorious for having super fast and firm greens and fairways on the whole course really,” she said. “Sometimes (the rain) does help – you can attack more pins because a lot of times your incoming shots are not going to roll out as much or bounce as much as they would when it’s usually super firm. Sometimes it’s hard when it makes the course a lot longer – your tee shots aren’t rolling out as far. It’s more difficult in that aspect when it makes the course longer but it definitely helps on approach shots.”
For Dabagia, a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, it’s been a successful summer in the Midwest. She won the Indiana Women’s Open on June 27 in her hometown. A week before the Hoosier Amateur, Dabagia finished second at the Indiana Women’s Amateur after falling to Chloe Johnson in a playoff.
Growing up, Dabagia honed her game at Sycamore Hills Golf Club. Her family lives on the golf course, which gave Dabagia a front-row seat to the high-profile events that would often come through there, like a Korn Ferry Tour event. The Dabagias hosted players during tournament week, notably Hunter Haas and Scott Harrington.
“I was so young, so they were super sweet to me,” Dabagia said.
When the U.S. Girls’ Junior was played at Sycamore Hills in 2013, Dabagia, who was 10 at the time, remembers going out to get autographs from the players – particularly former World No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn and her sister Moriya.
“I just remember thinking all those girls were so cool and that it was going to take so much hard work to be at that point,” she said. “I feel like that definitely did shape my practice and obviously that’s such a young age, but as a junior golfer that’s the top, where you want to be. So to see that from such a young age, I feel like it did shape me a little bit.
Dabagia works on her swing with instructor Max Niehans and has had plenty to challenge her growing up at Sycamore Hills. Still, she was glad to get a few more rounds at the Pfau under her belt during the Hoosier Amateur before she starts at Indiana.
After playing the past two years at Iowa, the Hoosier fan said she just loved Bloomington. The move to Indiana brings her closer to family, especially older sister Morgan, who also played golf for Indiana from 2020-23. The two will live together until Morgan completes her master’s degree this coming year.
Dabagia knows she needs to sharpen some areas of her game but is trying to enjoy the process without thinking about what lies beyond college in terms of golf. In that regard, the Pfau will be another great resource.
“I’m so excited to get on it and have it be my home now,” she said.