Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
It’s going to be a rookie year for pretty much the whole girls golf team this year as new girls Head Coach Jason Gorham takes over a team that has one returning veteran.
“We’ve got a lot of new players this year,” Gorham said.
While he’s new to the head coaching job, Gorham has been helping Tom Horn with the golf teams for nine years, so it’s not going to be a completely new experience.
His one returnee from last year’s squad is Megan Moser, a junior.
“We graduated a couple and a couple are doing other things this year and aren’t able to play,” Gorham said. One of the graduates was Chelsea Gagner, who won the Capital Conference championship and finished eighth in state.
Moser has played a varsity schedule for two years, so she knows what to expect, the coach said.
“She had some good rounds last year,” he said. “I’m just hoping to get more consistency from her. She knows she has the ability to go out and shoot consistent rounds. It’s just a matter of doing it.”
Two juniors, Janessa VanEpps and Denae McCalister, and three freshmen, Tana Tyler, Katie Nicholson and Savana McCalister, round out the squad., All have played some golf, so they come in with at least rudimentary knowledge of the game, Gorham said.
“They’re coming in, obviously, with a lot of work to do in terms of understanding the game and developing their swings,” he said. “We’re working on that. But we’ve had some good practices to start the season. They’re picking things up quickly.
The Huskies will be playing in a new district this year, with some teams they haven’t faced recently. One familiar opponent will be Sisters, which is also joining the district.
“They have had some good teams the last few years and they made it to the state match the last two years, so I expect them to be solid,” Gorham said of the Outlaws.
Other members of the league will be Marist, which he also expects to be strong, Cottage Grove and LaPine, which Gorham expects to field full teams. Other schools may not have full teams, but may put individuals into the matches the Huskies play, he said.
The girls will open their season April 3 at Middlefield Village.
“We’ve got a little bit of time,” Gorham said. “It’s always good to get some work, some practice rounds in. Things like that get us prepared for our first match.”