Multi-Sport Career at TC West Helps Gillis Thrive as Pro in Game She Once Left Behind
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
July 9, 2026
When Gaby (Muller) Gillis walked away from golf her sophomore at Traverse City West High School, she had no idea she would sprint back to the sport.
Especially since her walk quickly turned to a stumble thanks to a torn ACL suffered during basketball practice a few months after giving up the fairway.
“I think everything happens for a reason,” said Gillis, a three-sport star at West and now the first female head golf pro at the John’s Island Club in Vero Beach, Fla. “It’s a silver lining — it’s what got me back into golf. A few months after my surgery, all I could do was chip and put. I had to try to do something.”
When Gillis was a freshman in high school, girls golf was a spring sport, girls volleyball was a winter sport and girls basketball was a fall sport. Girls golf and volleyball became fall sports her sophomore year. After consultation with her coaches and her parents, Gillis chose volleyball, then her favorite sport, over golf.
Gillis did play golf and volleyball in the same season her junior and senior years, balancing academics and competing in two sports simultaneously. She practiced golf mostly on her own, following volleyball team practices.
“I wouldn't change anything,” Gillis said. “School was important to me as well, but I was very lucky with the opportunities that I had. Those fall seasons, junior and senior year were pretty hectic. I had a lot of support from the coaches and my teammates.”
After leaving West, Gillis went on to play golf for Michigan State University and become a golf pro. Before her ACL injury, she was seriously entertaining thoughts of playing volleyball at the next level.
“A lot of the elite athletes were playing club throughout high school, and I just couldn't do that because I was playing my other sports,” Gillis recalled. “So could that have affected maybe my volleyball career? I don't know if volleyball would have taken me to where I am now.”
Gillis, who credits much of her success to her parents encouraging her to play multiple sports, points to high school athletics as key to functioning as a golf pro today and managing two golf courses and a staff of 30. She is one of two head golf pros at John’s Island. The other is her husband, Tim Gillis.
“High school sports taught me a ton,” Gillis acknowledged. “High school sports teaches kids discipline, time management and how to work with others. When you're on a team and also for individual sports, you learn how to handle things and experience the highs and lows and trying to figure something out on your own.”
She recommends today’s student-athlete avoid focusing on just one sport.
“I do a lot of recruiting and hiring in my job now,” she added. “I ask them about their golf experience but I also ask if they grew up playing any other sports. I think high school sports can teach someone so much. A lot of the people that I hire have played high school sports.”
Gillis graduated from West in 2010. She was an all-state golfer for the Titans and selected to the all-Big North Conference first teams in basketball, volleyball and golf. During her junior year, she eagled two holes during the same round.
She went on to play for Big Ten championship teams at MSU. Her younger brother, Gage, joined her at Michigan State and played for the Spartans, too.
“I grew up a very passionate Michigan State fan and had the opportunity to play golf there,” Gillis said. “Even though golf is an individual sport, it still had that team aspect at the college level and I'm still extremely close with some of my teammates. Golf added the family aspect, which I think is so important.”
Gillis has been around golf much of her life. Her father, Fred Muller, was the head golf professional at Crystal Downs Country Club in Frankfort for 42 years. He died a little over a year ago. Gillis recalls vividly playing at Crystal Down as young as 5 years of age,
Gillis pointed out she couldn’t imagine doing any other kind of work today.
“Growing up, I watched my dad work at the golf course, caddying, working in the bathroom and the golf shop,” Gillis said. “I played at a high level in high school and college, but I didn't really know that's what I wanted to do after graduating college.”
Gillis is ready to start her own family any day now. She and her husband are preparing to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary in September, and they’re expecting the birth of their first child by the end of this month.
So golfing once again has been halted.
“We're expecting a little boy, which we're very excited about,” Gillis said. I hung up my clubs up a couple weeks ago, but I actually played really well in my last round.”
She was under par going into the 18th hole and three-putted to finish even.
“But I gave all those men a run for their money,” she noted. “My body is not quite moving how I would like it, so I hung them up on a high note.”
The soon-to-be-new parents are planning to raise their son in sports similar to Gaby’s experiences at West and MSU.
“I feel like that was important that our parents didn't limit us to just one sport,” Gillis said. “When you're on a team learning how to work with people, you're working with people to try to be as successful as possible and win. And with individual sports, you're trying to find success as well. It translates to the real world.”
2026 Made In Michigan
July 2: Inspired by Home, Eager to Give Back, Spencer Hosts Hoop City Alumni Games - Report
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Gaby (Muller) Gillis poses for a photo with her Traverse City West coach Cathy Coon during her senior season in 2009. At right, Gillis now serves as a golf pro at John’s Island Club in Vero Beach, Fla. (2) Gillis stands for a photo with her husband Tim, who also serves as a pro at John’s Island. (3) Gillis, right, blocks a kill attempt for West’s volleyball team. (4) Gillis posts scores during an event. (Photos provided by Gaby Gillis.)
Oxford Golfers Excel, Continue to Heal with 1st League Title, Finals Debut
By
Ray Hill
Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association
October 18, 2023
It was 49 degrees, cloudy, and drizzly Monday when five Oxford High School girls golf team members pulled into the parking lot at Metamora Golf and Country Club. They popped open the backs of their cars and rooted around for the right combination of hats, hoodies, gloves and rain gear. There were no complaints about the weather as the fivesome strolled down the first fairway of an empty course giggling and sharing stories from the day at school.
They were in their happy place.
Oxford coach Gretchen Gabler, 56, has worked for nine years to create a happy, safe place for her golfers. Bad weather, bad bounces, bad scores are not going to break their spirit – they’ve seen more than most their age, and have developed a mentality to deal with adversity and stay focused on the important things in life, says their coach.
And, aside from a few sprinkles, cold fingers, and searching for that missing floppy rain hat in the bottom of the golf bag, overcoming adversity has not been an issue this fall for the Wildcats. Gabler’s team is enjoying the most successful season in the program’s 28-year history. Oxford won the Oakland Activities Association White championship, and qualified for the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals – both first-time happenings for the program. The Wildcats, No. 8 in the current Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association Division 1 state rankings, will tee it up Friday and Saturday at Forest Akers West.
“It’s so nice to see (success) for those girls and Gretchen,” said Clarkston coach Lezlie Hallman, who has had a front-row seat watching the rise of Oxford girls golf. “My hat is off to them. They’ve earned everything this year. Gretchen goes above and beyond with those girls, and has worked hard to strengthen our league. Everyone loves her, and her girls. They cheer hard for everyone else on the golf course, and now my girls couldn’t be happier for them; I’m happy for the school – the whole community needs this kind of school success.”
This team’s success is a feel-good story for many after the November 2021 shooting that killed four and injured seven at Oxford High School.
“The shooting is not who we are, but something that happened to us,” Gabler said. “After the shooting, I told the parents ‘I don’t care if we ever win a game – I just want these girls to heal.’ So when I see them smile and giggle and laugh, it’s an amazing sign that they have carried forward.”’
They’ve smiled, giggled, and laughed this season, but they’ve also won.
This fall Oxford won five 18-hole events with five more top-five finishes. They have set school 9- and 18-hole scoring records (307 and 163). They’ve gone from league doormats to league champions over the last three years.
“We are definitely a close-knit team that has really come together since the shooting,” said senior Ellie Gieselman. “Since (the shooting) we’ve tried to play more for our school than for ourselves.”
Last year, Gieselman said, her team appreciated the support, but grew weary of the sympathetic looks when they showed up at events. And then they started carding low numbers.
“That’s happening a lot less now that we’re not at the bottom – people see us now more for how much game we have,” Gieselman said with a proud smile.
It’s been a long climb to the top for the Wildcats. Gabler was a stay-at-home married mom of two adult children when she took the program reins in 2014. She took up the game herself in her 30s and was an Oxford golf mom when her daughter played.
Knowing she wasn’t going to shape swings like a teaching professional, she focused on what she could do.
“In my first few years, I was teaching kids how to hold a club and swing and read greens,” she said. “I knew we weren’t in the same place as other schools in the league, but I knew we could be the team that knows the rules, counts all our strokes, plays with sportsmanship, and has fun.”
Those foundational principles, combined with Gabler’s enthusiasm, changed everything for the program. She soaked up every detail from the MHSAA Coaches Advancement Program classes for new coaches, asked veteran coaches for advice, begged friends and neighbors to encourage their daughters to play golf, and used social media to promote her girls golf program among Oxford-area moms. She guarantees a positive experience for all and refuses to make cuts. Gabler has team bonding events at her home, is visible at all school events, and can tell you each of her team member’s colleges of choice and future dream jobs.
She has an active team page on Facebook and an Instagram account where team members interview each other, competitors, and generally just have fun. The team has grown in size from 8 in 2014 to 30 in 2023.
Oxford golf parent Cari Yankee has five daughters, three of whom have played golf, including senior Lexie. Her twin eighth graders plan to join the squad next year.
“Gretch really loves these girls,” Yankee said. “She is fostering a love of golf, and she makes it a heck of a lot of fun. She never lets them get down on themselves and is so patient with them. She is a wonderful mentor, and as a parent, I never have to worry about the kids because I know how much she really cares for them and loves them. Ask anyone who has played for her, and you won’t find anyone who has a bad word about Gretch. She’s special.”
Gabler considered stepping down as coach a couple of years ago. The COVID-19 pandemic and the death of a former team member deeply impacted her. It was the hugs and support from the girls that brought her back for the 2021 season.
“I just couldn't walk away from those girls. And I’m really glad I didn’t quit because I wouldn’t have been there for them during the shooting, and for this fun season,” Gabler said.
During the 2021 shooting, she texted every member of her team, asking if they were physically safe. They were. In the days after, she arranged a Zoom meeting for the girls with a trauma counselor who worked with survivors of the 2018 Parkland, Fla., school shooting. Their emotional recovery became her primary focus, as she worked to provide them a safe zone where they could talk about the tragedy, or just play golf and have fun.
The team grew closer, Gabler saw healing taking place, and she began to notice something special about these girls.
“This group is different,” Gabler said. “They’re not just great athletes, they are great young women; they are kind, they are Godly – they’re just really good people. Being associated with them has been a great honor.”
The core group playing at the Finals consists of seniors Ellie Gieselman, Ella Flores, Keira Billis, Gabi Wait, and sophomore Katie Pill.
“We knew this season would be special,” Billis said. “We had a good team last year, and everyone worked hard over the summer to get better. We came out and won the first tournament of this season, and knew it was a great sign. And now, we’re off to states.”
Gabler is excited for the girls, and hopes they play well, but won’t be focused on the scoreboard. She simply wants the girls to revel in the moment, perform as well as they can, and just be kids.
Watching them walk side-by-side down the fairway on a cold, drizzly afternoon, Gabler said “Those girls care very much for each other, and for life. They have an understanding about life that many people cannot grasp because they have not faced their own mortality like these girls did at age 16. They are mature beyond their years, and yet they are still kids just having fun.”
Having fun in a safe, happy place, and developing the skills to help succeed in life – it’s what high school athletics is all about.
Ray Hill is a recently retired teacher from East Jackson High School who has done freelance writing for 40 years. He has also coached golf at East Jackson for 27 years and serves as public relations director for the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association.
PHOTO From left: Oxford golfers Gabi Wait, Ellie Gieselman, Ella Flores, Keira Billis and Katie Pill. (Photo provided by the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association.)