Young Warrior golf team will surprise folks, coach says

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY TOM STOPPEL
Marion High School golf coach Doug Dick, in his 11th season, will have to overcome the loss of his No. 1 player from a season ago, Nickolas Hett.

But Dick thinks the blend of experience and youth on the 2005 squad is enough to keep Marion in the hunt for a Mid-Central Activities Association league championship in May.

“I think we’ll surprise some people,” Dick said. “A lot of people are thinking we won’t be as good, but I’m really optimistic about our chances.”

That optimism is predicated on 12 golfers who reported to practice this spring.

“I’m looking at three freshmen possibly filling in on varsity this year,” Dick said. “Early on, we probably won’t be shooting the team scores we did last year, but I feel as the season progresses we’re going to see substantial improvements.”

Leading the Warriors will be sophomore Travis Hett, an individual champion at Sacred Heart last year in addition to posting top-four finishes at Marion, Herington, Council Grove and Hillsboro.

In addition, Hett earned All-Cottonwood Valley League honors as well as All-MCAA recognition.

At the No. 2 spot is senior Nick Carlson, who took top honors at Marion last season as well as earning top-10 finishes at Sacred Heart, Herington, Hillsboro and Council Grove.

“I think Nick feels more comfortable at No. 2, but both of these guys are going to be expected to carry a heavy load,” Dick said. “They’re both good all-around golfers who can hit the ball a long ways and both consistently shoot in the 70s.”

Senior John Whitwell will ascend from the No. 5 spot last year to the No. 3 hole this spring.

“John has really improved his game,” Dick said. “He’s hitting the ball a long ways, but where he’s really improved is in his short game. I think he’ll consistently hit in the 80s.”

The other three spots on the six-man team will be decided between senior Kevin Costello and freshmen Keith Jones, Chase Carlson and Jake Bredemeier.

“Kevin is a big question mark for me,” Dick said. “This is only his second serious year of golf. He’s played since he was a kid, but it takes a certain level of commitment to become a good golfer.”

Of the three freshmen, Dick said Jones seems to have the upper hand.

“He looks like he’ll be my 4-man because he’s been consistently in the mid-40s this spring,” Dick said. “He’s a real consistent young man who’s worked really hard on his game.

Bredemeier and Carlson also shoot in the 40s, which would earn them a spot on the six-man team, according to Dick.

“They’ve both played golf for several years and both have nice swings and look like they have great potential,” Dick said. “It’s just going to be a matter of who shoots the best score when the time comes.”

Dick said it’s evident many of his athletes put in the summer work necessary to improve.

“There’s no doubt Travis and Nick have come up a notch in their game and so have some of these younger kids,” he said. “These guys have a great attitude and take the game seriously.”

Rounding out Dick’s 12-man roster are Paul Hodson, Casey Keaser, Mitchel Neuwirth, Colby Hett and Brice Suffield.

Dick said the opportunity is there for the more seasoned golfers to teach the younger ones more than just how to swing a club.

“They can lead by showing how hard they practice and how hard they do our pre-practice drills,” he said. “The upperclassmen show up on the course on weekends, so the younger guys know you can’t be really good if you just come out and shoot during practice.”

Regional assignments won’t be known for several weeks, but Dick knows the MCAA, at least, is loaded with talent.

“Hesston, Wichita Collegiate and Hillsboro look to be really strong,” he said. “I think Hillsboro will probably be the most-improved team in the league.”

Just what level of success the Warriors can attain is yet to be seen, but Dick said Marion lost to Collegiate by just three strokes for second place in the MCAA last year.

“If we can get back to that point, I’d be happy,” he said. “But for us to have a season we would feel good about and truly feel successful, we need to get out of regionals.

“We played extremely well all year last year, but in the final regard, you look at whether you made it to state or not,” he said. “We won lots of tournaments and had great individual efforts, but once we got to regionals, we just did not play well.

“Getting to state and performing well at state this year is our primary goal.”

More from article archives
Holdeman still cutting hair after a half century on the job
ORIGINALLY WRITTEN TOM STOPPEL That Bill R. Holdeman has endured as a...
Read More