From welcoming a new coach to scoring personal records, the golf teams set the course for the future by laying a firm foundation in their fall seasons. Although the fall tournaments have concluded, the teams will be out on the course practicing and preparing to have a successful spring season.

“Golf is a year-round sport, so we are going to be working hard to get ready for next semester,” varsity golfer and junior Chloe Balderaz said. “We need to keep working at it, and we have to practice a lot, getting more focused. We are still going to the course every day.”

Balderaz said success was not easy at first and came with hard work.

“I started playing golf the summer before my freshman year,” Balderaz. “My dad and my sister used to play, and so I thought I would give it a try. My freshman year was kind of rough, but this year we are doing really well, practicing more and trying harder. Golf is a big commitment, and it takes a lot of time to practice and get better.”

The girls varsity golf team added multiple freshmen to their team for the season.

“We have really worked together to welcome them and become a better team,” Balderaz said. “We have to be a team to get a good score, but we definitely have to each be individually ready to compete. The veteran members are getting even better, and we are all working to get the newer teammates on track.”

New head coach Ricky Guy now leads the golf program.

“Coach Guy has gotten us into some bigger tournaments than we had last year,” varsity golfer and sophomore Eli Schmucker said. “Dallas and Abilene were our two biggest tournaments, and we got first in 4A in all of them. We don’t advance in fall, but we have a spring season where you can advance to district and further.”

Schmucker said the boys team is working well together.

“We have had some records already, so we are hoping to go to state this year in 4A and hopefully win,” Schmucker said. “We had some of our lowest team scores overall from the last two years combined. We got close last year, but we are going to get it this year.”