The men’s golf team is eager to build on a team district championship in 2019. The team had high hopes for the spring of 2020, but like all other spring sports, they were extremely disappointed when the season was cancelled.

“The cancellation was tough because we only have four years of high school golf and now only three years since last year’s season was cancelled. It stole an opportunity to compete with the team and make a run in the playoffs,” said Jack Wooldridge, junior.

“We cannot change what has already happened and dwell on it, but losing a season is a big deal, and we don’t want to pretend that never happened. I think we can use it as motivation to appreciate the fact we get to play as we can easily take for granted that fact that we can play. Also, as a motivation to use the time we have left whether seniors or juniors or whatever grades to make the most of what we have!” said Head Coach Brian Burkey.

The varsity squad loses three seniors this year but has a strong returning five: Cole Willyard, senior, and Jack Wooldridge, Luke Burkey, Sam Vestal, and Jackson Lawrence, juniors. Twelve other players will fight to fill the three open spots.

“The loss of three seniors definitely impacted the team because all three were top eight and were the leaders of the team, but it has opened an opportunity for some of the younger golfers to take their place. They have been working hard to improve their game and will be able to contribute to the team this year and in years to come,” said Luke Burkey.

Golf is a sport in which players can easily lose their edge if they do not play for extended periods of time. For this reason, it is crucial for players to play on the course and hit the practice facilities in the offseason.

“I have been playing a lot. I competed in summer and fall tournaments and have been trying to get to the course whenever weather permits. I have been recently working on being smarter and more methodical on the course with the goal of having a nice, boring round of fairways and greens,” said Wooldridge.

Despite the setback of cancellations and loss of seniors, the team has high hopes for this season. The coaches and players alike have goals set as individuals and also as a team.

“Personally, I want to beat my numbers from freshman year, so consistently staying in the thirties in matches and hopefully placing in one of the big tournaments. I missed out on all-state honors freshmen year, so that is definitely a goal for this year. For the team, it would be great if we could go to state,” said Wooldridge.

“We have a lot of talent coupled with a good number of juniors and seniors who have some experience. So going into any match or tournament we have the ability to compete at a high level, so we have set some high expectations this year,” said Coach Burkey.