As spring sports’ “mini season” ended abruptly last Thursday, Oct. 22, (see accompanying story), Sweet Home’s golfers slipped under the wire and managed to play a nine-hole intrasquad match Wednesday afternoon at Mallard Creek Golf Course.
Coach Ron Moore said he had six golfers turn out for the abbreviated season, which included three days of practice each week.
Moore, who was set to begin his inaugural season as coach of the Husky golf team in March when spring sports were canceled, said he was contacted by Athletic Director Nate Tyler in September about the possibility of doing a mini season for the golfers.
“I said, ‘Of course,'” Moore said. “The kids need to do something.”
He contacted his players from last spring who hadn’t graduated and six responded – Dakota Melkvic, Will Moore, Carsen Perry, Morgan Sands Maren Weld and Bailey Womack.
They worked with Moore and Assistant Coach Mike Wilkerson on drills and got to play several holes twice a week, Moore said.
“I feel like all the kids improved. We got them on the golf course twice a week. Coach Wilkerson and I worked with them and talked a lot about the strategy of golf.”
For some of the rookies, the nine-hole intrasquad match was their first true outing on a golf course, Moore said.
He said that one thing that came out of the mini season was setting up yardages for each golfer so they know what they have in their bag and how far each club goes.
“We’ll give each one a laminated card so they know what card to grab,” he said.
He said he’s “excited” for the anticipated OSAA spring season, which, if everything works out according to plan, will begin practices April 19, with first contests starting May 3 and extending through a culminating week June 21-27. Moore said he expects a few more golfers, who couldn’t participate in the mini season.
“We’ve been fortunate with the weather,” he said as he walked with a group of players at Mallard Creek Wednesday, enjoying a crisp fall day, then adding, jokingly, “this spring they’re going to wonder what happened.”