The Britton-Hecla and Langford Area golf squads were supposed to tee off their season next Tuesday in the Britton-Hecla Invitational, but Mother Nature has other ideas this spring.
With heavy snow cover remaining at least over the northern half of the state, coaches need to become creative to help tune up for the upcoming season when not even a driving range looks to be accessible for the next several weeks.
Britton-Hecla started practicing inside a week ago Monday with 20 golfers in grades 7-12 reporting, while the Langford Area golfers remain on hold pending a break in the weather due to limited facilities. The LA school play uses one of the gyms while the track squad has been working out in the other.
“We’re just trying to keep the kids interested in the game and focusing a lot on the rules for about half of each practice,” said B-H coach Ryan Nack. “When we show up for an event we want to be confident with the rules on the course and have a good head on our shoulders on and off the course. ”
Right now Nack, who is assisted by Garrett Knebel, is trying to make the best of the situation with practice stations indoors.
“We’ve been doing some weight room core exercises with a different workout every couple of days, and we’ve been using the gymnastics floor to do some competitive putting drills,” said Nack. “We also have some foam golf balls and some astro turf squares left over from the playground project to work on our chipping. Practicing driving is a little more difficult but we do have some foam tees with driving mats and can hit balls into the curtain in the gym. We definitely need to think outside the box this year.”
Nine letterwinners form the nucleus of this year’s B-H squad. They include Ashton Mills, Will Schuller, Jordyn McGregor, Braun Kadoun, Dale Fischer, Alyssa James, Brynlee Patterson, McKenna Heer, and Faith Small.
Among the 20 golfers on the squad are six boys and two girls in grades 7-8, and eight boys and six girls in grades 912. Nack said he may also have some additional golfers that are also out for track. Mills, Schuller, Fischer and James are the only seniors on the roster, while Patterson is the only returning state qualifier.
Nack points to refining the short game as a priority this season.
“We need to work on our short game from 100 yards on in,” noted Nack. “We’ll get the driving figured out on the range, but we need to get on the green and limit our putts. But I think we have a good young group that is growing up and getting the experience we need.
“My biggest battle right now is that I don’t want to bore the kids by doing the same thing every day while we’re stuck inside. And we can’t predict when we’re going to get a chance to get on the course.”
Britton-Hecla has four matches scheduled in April and none of those are assured. Nack noted that there is a Class B Classic scheduled in Mitchell later this month and he is looking into that possibility if weather permits.
Alberts said he is expecting just one freshman girls and five or six senior boys to report for the LA squad this spring.
“Right now there’s not a lot of room for us in the gym but when we get going we will work on getting our putting down,” said Alberts. “Obviously, that’s a pretty important part of the game and something we can do inside. But right now we’re just kind of playing it by the weather and see what it does.”
B-H Schedule
Apr. 11 Britton; Apr. 13 Hamlin; Apr. 20 Webster; Apr. 27 Hamlin; May 6 NEC at Clear Lake; May 15 Pre-Region at Watertown; May 19 Clear Lake; May 22 Region 1B at Watertown; June 5-6 State Meet at Watertown
B-H JH Schedule
Apr. 18 Webster; Apr. 22 NEC at Clark; May 2 Clear Lake; May 12 Britton
LA Schedule
Apr. 11 Britton; Apr. 20 Webster; Apr. 22 Ipswich; May 4 LRC at Aberdeen; May 15 Pre-Region at Watertown; May 22 Region 1B at Watertown; June 5-6 State Meet at Watertown
