West Fork boys golf aims to follow up State finish

Following a run to the state championships which saw the West Fork Warhawks boys golf team take second place in the Class 1A State Championship, the boys team is getting ready for another run as the Warhawks took first place out of three teams at their first meet of the year with a score of 171 on April 4. Sage Suntken took first place with a score of 39, Nolan Shreckengost took second place with a score of 42, Landon Showalter took third place with a score of 44, Ethan Shields took fourth place with a score of 46, Jordan Demaray took sixth place with a score of 50, and AJ Anderesen finished in a tie for seventh place with a score of 52.

Head coach Chris Noss said that heading into this season that the team would love to win conference and get back down to state. Noss said that for the returners from last year that one thing they can take away from last year and use for this season is learning from the competition they faced last year.

“Down at state you have some great teams down there and they were able to see what they needed to work on to get better,” Noss said. “And work on that in practice and continue that the boys are very excited."

Noss said that he thinks the golfers are ready to go and even with how well last season went that he did not think the team is feeling any extra pressure to get back to state.

“They have been very excited and they are working hard at practice and getting better every day,” Noss said. “Pressure wise they are just going out and having fun. Yesterday was our first meet and they played really good. There are some things we have to work on, but for the most part there is no added pressure.”

One positive that Noss said he saw from the first meet was how the golfers responded to having a bad hole.

“If they had a bad hole they were able to overcome it and put it aside and move forward,” Noss said. “That is a big thing in golf you can have a bad hole and if you let that drag on you can let it take your whole round down. A couple of them had a rough start but they overcame it.”

Noss said that this season that everyone on the Indians have a chance to make an impact on the team just like last season.

“Last year we were very consistent with scoring. It could have been any six of them and they all contributed all season long,” Noss said. “We are going to need that same routine this year to go far. I have a lot of seniors coming back and a junior and the big thing is they all can shoot low."

During the early parts of the season, Noss said one thing he would like to see the team focus on is their short game.

“The kids can all hit the ball off the tee for the most part. But it is that 120 yards in and minimizing three puts, we had quite a few three puts yesterday that adds a few strokes to the score when you are dealing with not that many golfers,” Noss said. “If they can minimize and get up and down that will take some strokes off their game.”

As the season moves along and the Indians get to the middle and late parts of the season. Noss said that he would like to see the team improve every day.

“Every meet we have I would like to see the scores stay steady or come down,” Noss said. “That is the big thing you want to be consistent with all your golfers and move forward.”

The team’s next match is at Fox Ridge Golf Course on April 13 at 10 a.m.