By Tate Thomson

Reporter

“Over half the team has never played golf until last Monday,” said head coach Jack Rice about the 2019 golf team. “It’s going to be fun to see how fast they can improve. Golf isn’t an easy game to pick up. When you think about all the things a new player has to learn, it’s overwhelming.”

The fresh-faced team started practicing on the chilly San Juan Golf Club course in preparation for the spring season. The team is coached by Rice and assistant coaches, Gordy Waite and Greg Sawyer.

“I have two great assistants who are playing a major role in bringing these kids along,” said Rice. “They are both fairly new to the game themselves, so we have a lot of ah-ha moments that relate to both them and the kids.”

The team has four seasoned members who went to the district tournament last year: Ethan Havel, Peter Kulseth, Weston Swirtz and Ian Volk.

Rice was hoping to recruit female players for the 2019 team, but was unable.

“I am disappointed that our lLadies program has fallen off the map. We haven’t been able to recruit one lady to come out for golf,” he said. “In years past, we have had some very good women’s teams, actually putting a third place state championship trophy in the high school trophy case.”

The team took on Grace Academy to start the season on Tuesday, March 12.