Boys golf coaches Jim Hoffman at Seymour, Brent Hattabaugh at Brownstown Central and Doug Sabotin at Trinity Lutheran will be counting on veterans to lead the way when their teams open their schedules Saturday.
Seymour and Brownstown will tee it up in the Seymour Invitational at Shadowood Golf Course and Trinity will compete in the Edinburgh Invitational at Timbergate Golf Course.
Seymour
Jim Hoffman said his squad, like all spring sport teams, missed opportunities to play and improve last spring.
“We were excited going into last year. With COVID and everything that happened, it was disappointing,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of kids (14) coming out. I’ve got the two leaders I’m going to count on, and I’ve got some youth.”
The senior leaders are Owen Marshall and Ethan Dippold.
“I expect some big things out of them,” Hoffman said. “Technically, it would be their fourth year playing varsity, and they’ve got to show that leadership, and they’ve got to go out and play like they can. If they do, with the youth I’ve got, the sophomores and a junior that are playing really well, our expectations are pretty high this year.”
The Owls have depth this spring, and Hoffman said there will be a lot more competition for playing spots.
“We’ve got a lot more in that three-through-eight range, and those kids are going to be fighting for spots,” he said. “We’re going to play a lot of JV matches, which is going to help them with experience. I’m really excited about the youth we’ve got.”
Senior Zach Storey is a player battling for one of those slots.
“I’ll try to challenge the top two for one of their spots,” he said. “They’ve played a few more years than me, but I’ll try.”
He is ready to get the regular season started Saturday. His best nine-hole score at Shadowood is 40, and he said he wants to get down into the 30s.
“I just need more practice. I’ll definitely be spending a lot of time out here,” he said. “I love the home matches. We feel like we have home course advantage. The front nine is easier. The back is more challenging. I like the back just because I think the holes play better. My favorite hole is No. 10. I’ve (birdied) it a few times.”
The Owls will host seven schools Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.
“Our goal is going to be, depending on the weather, shoot 315 to 320. That would be a really good score to start off with,” said Hoffman, who is beginning his eighth year as Seymour’s coach.
“We’ll have some guys playing that haven’t played a varsity match,” he said. “In practice, they’ve shown they have some ability and they’re willing to work hard, so I think we’ve got some things going the right way. I will look for us to really have a good year.”
Brownstown Central
Seniors Reid Campbell and Caden Clodfelder and juniors Cooper Wolka, Colton Hallow and Liam Kries all played two years ago and were preparing for the 2020 season when it was stopped by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This spring, coach Brent Hattabaugh said his team will have depth.
“They have played, and some in the sophomore class have played a lot of golf. They played a lot in middle school, and some of them have played during the summer,” he said.
Hattabaugh said the Braves have been spending a lot of hours practicing at Hickory Hills.
“They’ve been working on their short game, so we’ve spent a lot of time chipping, putting, hitting shots inside of 100 (yards), so they’re not just coming out and playing nine holes. They’re actually working on their short game,” he said.
“We’ve got some shooting in the low 40s. It’s only two weeks into the season, and their goal is to shoot in the 30s. I’ve got three or four of them that have said that is their goal.”
Campbell said he has been shooting rounds in the mid-40s and has been working on all parts of his game.
“I’ve been straightening out my drives, getting a little more length on them,” he said. “My putting is all right.”
On the home course, Campbell said his favorite hole is No. 2 driving up on the hill.
He hopes the experience of playing since middle school will help him this season and beyond.
“They always say you can play until you’re 80,” Campbell said. “It’s a big thinking game. There is a lot of strategy involved. I like golf. It’s not too difficult.”
Hattabaugh said he wants the Braves to try to improve every day.
“I told them we’re playing against some really good teams Saturday. I told them not to get down on themselves because we’re just playing against the golf course,” he said.
“From the first tournament to the end to the sectional, all I ask is that they improve, and that’s what they want. They want to take strokes off before the end of the season. We have a few kids that have never played varsity, but that’s how you get it. You go out and play.”
Trinity Lutheran
Doug Sabotin said the Cougars have four juniors who played as freshmen, but his son, Jacob Sabotin, was the one who got the lion’s share of playing varsity.
The other juniors are Caleb Williams, Kade Hill and Preston Kovener.
“They are real solid golfers for us this year as juniors,” coach Sabotin said. “We do have good depth. I believe we do have a really solid top five. Sports are supposed to be fun, so first and foremost, we’ve got to have fun playing this game. We want to make sure we’re learning every day. We try to mix it up and have fun.”
He also wants the players to be a team and learn the importance of teamwork.
“We want to honor God at Trinity Lutheran first and foremost,” he said. “It’s a Christ-centered school, and we seek to honor him through all we do through good sportsmanship, humility and grace.”
The only senior on the team is Zephyr Wilson, who began playing golf last year.
“He has committed himself to golf and is really a solid golfer,” Sabotin said. “We’re excited about him being our senior leader.”
Wilson, who lives near Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus, said the strongest parts of his game are his mid-range and long irons, and he has confidence hitting off the tee.
“I’m hitting about 270, 280 and get 295, 300 with the roll,” he said. “My putting is pretty good. I aim to put it within two feet below the cup. What I try to work on the most is my close-game placement. That’s the most important part of the game.”
His goal this season is to shoot in the low 40s for nine-hole matches.
“I’ve broken 40 on my own plenty of times,” Wilson said. “I kind of like the front nine (at Shadowood) better because I’ve played the front nine more. My favorite hole is No. 3.”
Wilson said he also is about 90 percent back to full strength after having wrist surgery, so he is ready to get back to the game he loves.
“I fell in love with the game as soon as I picked up a golf club. I had played before, but not as I am now,” he said. “I never had my own set of clubs until last year. I just keep working at it.”
Sabotin looks for the Cougars to get better throughout the season.
“Once our juniors graduate, we have the ability to keep Trinity golf alive through these young men (freshmen and sophomores) currently learning the game,” Sabotin said. “We want to do our best and let the scores take care of themselves.”