Tee time approaches for Horseman

Spring has sprung in Sanders County and the Horsemen golfers are eager for another competitive season.

Although the season is just beginning, head coach Teri Kendall has some high expectations for her Horsemen squad as she expects to see them competing at the state tournament in Shepherd.

Kendall, who grew up in Billings has been looking for an excuse to go home and she expects her players to give her one.

“I want to go home and I keep telling them that, so they’d better make it to state,” she said.

Whatever success the Horsemen have, however, will be without graduated senior Brice Benson, who was a regular on the leader board for Plains.

“I’ll miss having him around,” Kendall said. “He was a good golfer, he started when he was a freshman and worked his way up. He was a big part of the varsity team.”

Despite the absence of Benson, Kendall’s confidence seems well placed on a roster of 10 Horsemen rife with experienced golfers and new talent.

Returning seniors Wade Bache and Jeff Revier will look to cap off their respective careers with successful campaigns while Junior Dallas Burgess also figures to be a solid contributor for Plains.

Kendall said, there will be some movement in the fourth and fifth tournament slots as the season progresses between the other seven golfers. In their first seasons of high school golf senior Carson Lilja and junior Brandyn Smith will be competing with a quartet of freshman (Brady Ovitt, Caleb Connoly, Keith Woodward and Colton VonHeeder) for time in the tee box.

“I’m really looking forward to working with these freshman for the next four years. They’re a good group of kids and I think they can all end up being really good golfers,” she said.

In order to achieve her lofty goal, Kendall knows her and her team have a lot to accomplish between now and April 7 when they compete in their first. While returning players are trying to shake off nine months of rust, the younger players are fine-tuning their swings in order to get up to speed as quickly as possible.

If practice is any indication of success, the Horsmen will do just fine this season.

“It’s going really well so far and we’re having fun out there,” said Kendall. “The kids are anxious to play and they’ve been practicing pretty hard this year so far. I’m looking forward to seeing how they play in the tournaments.”

Although Kendall said the weather had been fairly cooperative, she said her team has continued to play even on the rare days when she tried to cancel practice.

The Horsemen will look to get their season started on the right as they compete in their first tournament at the Loyola Invitational in Missoula. Players will tee off at Larchmont on Thursday before finishing the two day event at the Missoula Country Club on Friday.

Kendall knows her players will be competing against a talented field on two difficult courses, but she’s hoping Bache, Revier and Burgess can finish in the top 15, while the other two competitors will earn some valuable experience in their first career tournament.