Golf led by first freshmen trio

By Jim den Hollander

jdenhollander@capitalnewspapers.com

When the varsity golf program was introduced at Wisconsin Dells High School in the fall of 2005, there were some juniors and seniors who tried the sport out along with a trio of freshman athletes still three weeks away from their first class at the school.

Head coach Troy Ryan pinned the hopes of the future of the program on that trio: Devan Dollar, Mary Moore and Kirsten Schueler, but it was a baptism of fire as they played both varsity and junior varsity matches and tournaments over the course of the quick season.

Now, that trio is seniors on a team that has come full circle and they will be leaders of a team that once again has one eye focused on a solid season ahead and another looking to the future of the program.

The season's first practice/meet and greet Monday saw potential team members starting out in the WDHS library and winding up at the practice green at Trappers Turn.

Five of those team members are freshmen, still three weeks away from taking their first class at WDHS - sound familiar?

Actually, though, while nine doesn't sound like a lot of team members, it is actually a 22 per cent jump from last season's seven member team.

What they lacked in quantity though, the team made up for in quality last season, beginning with then-seniors Lindsay Richards and Tayler Petersen along with a couple of others.

Dollar, who never picked up a golf club before her freshman season at WDHS enters this season as defending Badger North Conference tournament champion while Moore and Schueler look to fill the second and third spots on the team.

Along with incoming freshmen: Jasmine Holland, Sam Mueller, Amanda Frisch, Tama Estebo and Marley Schultz on the first day was the team's lone junior, Nicole Leach, also out for the first time in the sport.

As of opening day, there were no sophomores included on the list although Ryan said he expects there may be another golfer or two out within the first week as well.

Last season's team made huge strides. Before then, the team had escaped the basement of a conference tournament only once recalled the new seniors.

"We beat McFarland at a meet," said Schueler. "I remember that tournament," added Moore, recalling the team's first ever step forward in its first season of conference competition (The team ran basically as an independent entry in its first season).

Last season, the team finished in the upper half of the conference pack more often than not.

This season, the three have different types of goals heading into the season.

For Moore, who began golfing in Middle School and worked hard at it since joining the high school team, there are some clear team and personal goals heading into the season.

"I would like to win team conference and for me, my goal is to break 100 for 18 holes, says the golfer who heads into the season with a personal best score of 104.

Not bad for a golfer who played some in middle school, but put up triple digit nine-hole scores in her first rounds as a freshman.

For Schueler, the team leadership role is her main focus.

"I want to make the freshmen feel like they are part of the team and don't get picked on," says Schueler who recalls her own start on team four years and being a bit of an outsider as a freshman.

Dollar wants to keep things fun and low key.

"I just want to go as far as we can. Go into conference and play well." Asked if she feels any pressure to repeat as conference champion, Dollar says, "I hate pressure. I'm just here for fun and to do the best I can."

Its hard to argue with that attitude toward the game with the success it has brought Dollar already.

Coach Troy Ryan has some specific score and position goals but also shares some of Dollar's attitude of not heaping on the pressure, in particular when it comes to off season expectations.

"Well, Devan is the conference champ. I would like to see her compete for that again and hopefully shoot consistently in the 80s," says the coach.

"For Kirsten and Mary, they are hoping to break 100. If they could shoot in the mid to low 90s it would be great.

"Everyone else on the team is new," says the coach, adding if the three seniors are able to play close to those goals, it will allow some room for the younger golfers to find their groove over the short season.

If they "play their best rounds at the end of the season," there is a good chance for the team to get into Sectionals, says the coach.

While many other teams have golfers that have been golfing all summer already, it is mixed on the Chiefs with some staying busy and others not golfing as much. Ryan says he doesn't want to put that type of pressure on his team.

"My thing is, I try to give the kids an opportunity without expectations," says the coach. A newly formed Dells junior tour gives golfers more opportunity to play.

There are some more opportunities for junior golfers locally, including the Dells tour which Ryan had a hand in setting up locally.

But, "It takes a dedicated person to spend a lot of time on the golf course, especially during the summer when there is a lot of other stuff going on," says the coach.

Other goals for Ryan center around team continuity and this season's crop of freshmen give him a good chance to get there.

After the original group of golfers in the first season, there hasn't been as many newcomers to the sport and it is kind of starting over this season.

While this year's seniors are no doubt more experienced than that original group, there haven't been as many newcomers in the in between seasons.

"I would like to see four or five freshmen come out each year, then you would get a team of 20 or so.

There has been "slow but visible" growth in the team that is now graduating its first full four-year group.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a lot from the sophomore/junior classes. Some came out (in the first few seasons) as seniors but we haven't had as many upperclassmen coming out.

The good news for Ryan though is "We haven't lost a lot of kids.

"We had 16 players over the first three years and we graduated a big chunk of them," says the coach.

Unfortunately for the group that is new to the sport, there is not a lot of lead up time for some of them.

The team began practicing on Monday. Beginning Tuesday they worked on the practice area at Trappers and hopefully got an actual round or two of golf in before heading into the first tournament of the season at Edgewood on Friday afternoon and the tournaments continue quickly through the second half of August.

"We have four days practice, then tournament (Friday), tournament, one day practice and a tournament (Dells Invite - next Wednesday).

Some team members will have played in five tournaments and the season's first dual meet at Reedsburg before attending their first class of the high school year.

"We play half of our season before school starts," says Ryan, adding in an effort to avoid missing classes, there are several schools, including the Dells that hold their invitational tournaments early on.

The tournament list continues with an Aug. 25 event at Waunakee and another at Portage two days later, followed by the school's first Badger North Conference dual at Reedsburg Aug. 29. The first home dual will be Sept. 4.

The Dells Invite is a huge two-day affair that will be played on both Trappers Turn and Christmas Mountain next week.

For Schueler, playing the first event at Yahara Hills, hosted by perennial powerhouse Madison Edgewood actually takes some of the pressure off.

"It's Edgewood, we know we're not going to win it, so, really, there is no pressure on us."

Ryan agrees adding it really doesn't matter who they are playing against.

"The difference in golf is, you can't prepare for anybody. You just play your own game. I tell them, you're not playing head to head, you're just playing the course," says the coach adding with a smile . "There is no defense in golf. All you can do is work on your offense."