Four letter-winners to lead GHS golf toward state goal
Written by Andrew Ottoson
Thursday, 27 March 2008
The Goessel High School golf squad back has a roster of 18 that will be led by these returning letter-winners: back row (from left), Derek Brown, Nathan Ensz, Cameron Voth; front row, Sam Lehrman, Tyler Schmidt, and Jake Schrag. All are seniors except Schmidt, who is a sophomore.
Coming off a sixth-place finish at the Class 1A state meet, the Goessel High School golfers have four returning senior letter-winners at the top of the roster.
The team, headed by Nathan Ensz and Derek Brown, has 18 on the roster, and is a expected to be deep and highly competitive by coach Greg Bontrager.
Ensz placed 10th individually as the team claimed second at the league meet, and Brown placed 10th as the team took third at the Pretty Prairie regional.
Seniors Cameron Voth and Sam Lehrman, along with sophomore Tyler Schmidt, lettered with the squad in 2007.
“I am thrilled to see so many improvements with this year’s team,” Bontrager said. “Technically, the returning golfers seem to be better than last year.”
But knee injuries sustained by Voth and Brown will keep two of the team’s best sidelined for weeks—possibly a month or more in Brown’s case.
Bontrager said getting healthy will be a large factor in the team’s success. Another potential roadblock has become a focus of the Bontrager’s training efforts.
“This year we are focusing on the mental part of the game,” Bontrager said. “Golf is easy to handle when things are going well, but our golfers need to handle the bad shots and not let bad shots ruin the day.”
It may not be an easy lesson for a young team to learn. Bontrager is also making a point of another lesson experience teaches.
“Our golfers also need to work on course management instead of taking unnecessary chances,” he said.
Goessel has six sophomores returning: Hayden Goerzen, Chad Wedel, Austin Cooper, Caleb Makovec, Darcy Franzen and Justine Plenert.
Two other sophomores—Bryant Miller and Aaron Reimer—and freshmen Kent Duerksen, Jake Smucker, Neal Brubaker and Hannah Franzen are new to the program.
“We have a bunch of fresh faces, which is exciting for the future of Goessel High School golf,” Bontrager said.
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