Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
As they move into the Val-Co League for the first time, Sweet Home’s boy golfers look like they could be competitive right away and building for the future.
The Huskies have a full team ready to hit the links, according to Coach Tom Horn.
“We are going to have 13 or 14 kids, about what we’ve had in the past,” he said.
With five Huskies playing on the varsity, that leaves a lot of room for the rest to develop, he said.
Development will be a key to this year for the Huskies, who have only one senior, Casey Topp, who has never played high school golf. The rest of the team is a mixture of juniors and sophomores, and a large group of incoming freshmen.
Horn says he has four sure starters for the varsity in Taylor Huschka, Travis Ramos, Nick Zahler and Nick Pitts.
Huschka, a junior, played number five last year, but has put in the work to make it to the top, the coach said.
“He has really been determined to become a golfer and has put the time into it,” Horn said. “He will be one of the top players in our new league.”
Ramos, a sophomore who played number four on the varsity last year, is expected to fill the number two spot this time around. Zahler and Pitts, both juniors, are three and four. Zahler played JV last year while Pitts did not play in 2006 but lettered as a freshman.
“With those four guys we’re really going to be a fairly solid team,” Horn said. “Taylor’s going to give us a consistent low score and I expect the other guys to show marked improvement this year.”
The fifth varsity spot could be filled by a combination of players, Horn said, specifically mentioning junior Marcus Thedford, who showed “pretty good improvement” last year as a JV player, freshman Jake Riggs and sophomore Ricky Burnside, who also played JV last season.
The remaining freshmen are short on experience but have been showing some skill, Horn said.
“They’re enjoying it and if they enjoy it, they are going to put a little bit of time into it,” he said. Eric Holmes, who has impressed Horn, Justin Wales, Corey Ellingboe, Austin Dishaw and Teran Horn (no relation to the coach) round out the team.
Horn said Newport and Taft look to be the dominant teams this year, but Sweet Home could give one or both a run for their money, depending on how the Huskies progress.
“Newport is probably the best team,” he said. “They’ve got almost everybody returning from the team that went to the state tournament last year. They’ll be good. ”
Both the Cubs and the Tigers are coached by golf pros at Agate Beach (Newport) and Falisham (Lincoln City), respectively, and Horn said that expertise is a plus for thos teams.
The Huskies JV squad will open with a match March 13 at Mallard Creek, with the varsity kicking off their campaign at Tokatee on March 21.
“Hopefully we can get someone to the state golf tournament,” Horn said. “We have no seniors, but we’re going to get better. Golf’s a game. It’s not like football. It takes skill. You have to play and play and play. It’s tough to play six weeks and get better at golf.”