After finishing in fifth place last season in the Flint Metro League, the Varsity Boys Golf team brings back some young talent who hope to challenge for a league title this season.
‘The season looks good,? said Head Coach Terry Kelley. ‘We lost our top two guys from last year, but I think that we are going to be strong in the league again.?
Kelley noted that he sees good balance in the lineup from top to bottom.
‘Our balance is our strength this year. We have five guys who can and should on most days go out and break 40. We are going to have to shoot under 160 to be competitive, so we are going to have to have people under the 40 stroke mark,? Kelley said.
Juniors Doug Piesko and Josh Hosking will be called upon to regularly break the 40 stroke mark.
Kelley said that Piesko was very motivated, a hard worker who is smart on the golf course. ‘He makes good decisions on the golf course, which saves strokes.?
Hosking, who was last year’s number three golfer, is figured to move up to one of the top two slots in Kelley’s lineup. According to Kelley, Hosking’s putting and distance off of the tee will be his greatest strength.
Sophomore Nick Hocker also figures to be one of the top scorers this season after coming up halfway through his freshman season.
‘He came up early as a freshman and didn’t disappoint us,? said Kelley. ‘He is our leading scorer in practice this year and has a solid game and is very competitive.?
The lone senior this year is Scott McIsaac, who suffered an injury halfway through last season and was out for the remainder of the season. According to Kelley, McIsaac’s athletic ability makes him a good golfer.
In order to prepare for district’s and state competition, Kelley is introducing more tournament’s to this year’s schedule.
‘More teams play strictly tournaments, so I thought that I would start getting into that regimen,? he said.
This season, the boys will participate in five tournaments, which is up from last season’s two.
‘The benefits are when you get to league or state competition, you have to play 18 holes, which is quite different than playing nine holes,? Kelley said.
He added that playing 18 holes is more grueling, so it becomes easier to lose focus on the back nine.
One of his goals for the season is to place in the top five at every tournament they participate in.
He stated that his number one goal for the season was to win the FML title in their final season.
‘The Flint Metro is pretty balanced again this year,? said Kelley, who expects to see last year’s league winner Flint Kearsley, Lapeer West, Fenton and Oxford battle it out for the top spot.
The boys open their season at home against Lutheran High North April 13 and Clio High School April 14.