Mexico boys golf seeing potential in young team

Mexico boys golf is displaying some skills early.

Head coach Becca Bates said there are only two seniors on the roster of 18 this season. Jacob Stephens and Eric Heaton will be the seniors on a young team that Bates has been seeing positive things from.

“An extreme positive of this year is everyone can hit the ball,” Bates said. “We have so much potential as a team especially with them being so young I am excited to see what the future holds for these guys.”

Bates said Stephens and Heaton have each been working hard to make it to state in their final years in the program.

Van-Far golf looking for return to state

Van-Far golf wants to return to state and has the means to do it.

A year ago, the Indians qualified a team for the Class 1 state tournament and will be bringing back three boys from that team. Jay Orr returns as the head coach after taking a couple years off after previously coaching Van-Far to third- and fifth-place finishes at state.

Orr said Pacey Reading, Kasen Christian and Kaleb Baskett all have state experience from a season ago and hope to build off that.

“It's still early in the season and just getting back into swinging clubs, but I like the confidence they're showing, in their games and with each other,” Orr said.

Kaden Whiteaker, Bryce Reading and Blake Riffle fill out the rest of Van-Far’s team. Whiteaker and Reading each played junior varsity for the school a year ago.

“Our goals this year are simple: to be competitive in conference play and to make another run at state as a team,” Orr said. “To do this, we are going to focus on our fundamentals and course awareness. Even though we are a relatively young team, I'm very happy with the team’s buy-in and looking forward to a competitive year from the Indians.”

North Callaway boys golf returning full varsity team

Last year’s North Callaway boys golf team is looking for more this year.

Every single member of the varsity squad is back looking to defend its conference title and small-school division Elsberry Tournament title. Anthony Russell, Vincent Houchins, Clayton Moore and Ajay Roberts all return for varsity, with Moore being the only senior in the group.

“We have experience this year from my returning players,” head coach Jason Smith said. “They have all made a commitment to getting better in the offseason, and I look forward to seeing how that pays off for them this season.”

Smith said there are 14 players overall and two seniors. He said he would like to take a team to the state tournament this season.

Community R-6 teeing off boys golf program

Not long into the Community R-6 boys golf program, there has been quite a bit of interest.

Athletic director and girls basketball head coach Bob Curtis will be the head coach for the boys golf program that plays its first season this spring. There will be 14 golfers with no seniors on the team and plenty of room for growth and learning.

“Most of our team is just picking the sport up but excited to see improvement with a month or so of practice in by April,” Curtis said. “We have a lot of interest and will get better as the practices go by.”

Curtis said it is too early to tell who the varsity players will be because Community is in the “learning phase” but mentioned Cooper Rohan and Kyler Swaim have looked good early.

No matter the weather, Community plans to practice at Arthur Hills in Mexico or with the school’s indoor golf simulator on bad weather days, Curtis said. He said this will help as the program primarily focuses on generating excitement for golf in the school.

“This is going to be a learning year and an opportunity to teach our players the game, course etiquette and how to get better for the end of the season and next spring,” Curtis said.

Missouri Military Academy golf senior core wants to improve every round 

Missouri Military Academy has a core of experience in its golf program this year.

Out of the 15 MMA golfers, five will be on varsity and four of those players are seniors. Cooper Johnston, Patricio Sanchez, Logan Lockhart and Trey Rudolph have worked hard to improve their games, and head coach Anthony Yannielli said they each hope to qualify for state.

“We are really focusing on our mental part of the game this season,” Yannielli said. “Each boy has spent several hours working on their swings and course management so the focus is now on mental. If you have a bad hole, move on to the next, do not dwell on that hole since there is nothing you can do to fix it.”

Yannielli said he wants each of his golfers, not just his varsity and senior golfers, to focus on getting “better during each round played.” He would like MMA to send a team to state after sending individuals in the past and knows the Colonels have a good challenge with the teams normally in their district.

Fernando Puebla, Beckett Sears and Merrick Devereux are all underclassmen Yannielli said should “challenge the varsity team” and at least give MMA a good foundation for next year if they return. Overall, MMA has seven returners on the roster.

“We are fortunate enough to have simulators at the school so every second we can work on our games regardless of weather,” Yannielli said. “We also incorporated different things into our practice this year and they have already paid dividends with improving their swings and flexibility to achieve their best possible swing.”