Despite losing two of the top 10 golfers from Division II, Section VII to graduation, the Mingus Union High School golf coach is no less confident in his team’s ability.
Head coach Craig Mai has a number of experienced golfers who make the team less top heavy.
“We’ve got two big shoes to fill,” Mai said. “I think the way we’re going to do it is we’re not going to have a top person but were going to be real consistent one to five. So we’re going to have five players who are going to be in there playing really solid.”
Behind senior leader and co-captain Tyree Kim and junior Justin Tanner, the team continues to push toward achieving better results. The Marauders’ goals this year are to win their section and place higher at the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division II state tournament. Last year they finished 14th.
“Win our section and get back to state — that’s goal No. 1 right there,” Mai said. “Last year we got experience at state but this year we want to be a little more competitive when we get there but we’ve got to make sure we get there first.”
In order to achieve that, Mai said, they look to improve on three things: Eliminate penalty strokes, three putts and double chips. The older and more experienced players already hit the ball and play well enough as it is.
“Just by doing those things, we’re going to lower our scores,” Mai said. “I feel if we do an excellent job of that, when we play our matches we have a very successful chance of winning our matches and then winning our region and getting back to state.”
Two weeks into practice, Tanner felt like the golfers were already making strides.
“We’re going to be much stronger. I feel like our worst score this year is better than last year’s worst score,” Tanner said.
On an individual level, both Kim and Tanner look forward to returning to the state tournament. Many of the golf courses and tournaments on the schedule make for a fun time, as well.
“I just love playing on all of the different courses, that’s always just fun,” Kim said. “Especially Elephant Rocks [Golf Course] in Williams. That’s probably one of my favorite courses. It’s just so green and the weather’s always nice, it’s a very nice course, it’s beautiful.”
The Marauders teed off for the first time this season at their home course, Verde Santa Fe Golf Course, on Tuesday, Aug. 22 against Prescott High School, Bradshaw Mountain High School and Page High School. Results were unavailable at press time.
