Plains golfers on par for start of season

PLAINS – Rain drizzled off and on from the blanket of gray clouds covering the rolling green hills. On this day, a group of students and their coaches took to the footpath with their bags in tote. They diverged, chose their clubs and teed off. Their eyes followed their golf balls as they soared towards the horizon.

The Plains High School Golf team has been working hard every practice in preparation for their first tournament of the season. The tournament will be on Thursday, April 3 and Friday, April 4 in Missoula. Loyola High School will host the first day of tournament action at the Larchmont Golf Course. The second day the golf team will compete at the Missoula Country Club.

According to Head Coach Richard Magera, it is expected for there to be around 120 competitors from 14 different high schools. Some are coming from as far as Conrad and the east side of the mountains. This will be the only dual-tournament for the rest of the season.

The two Missoula golf courses are said to be very nice but the larger scale will be an adjustment for the team members who are accustomed to the smaller nine-hole courses of Plains and St. Regis.

“It is a completely different ball game with the 18-hole courses,” Coach Magera said. “They are not used to having so much ground to cover. They are going to be tired from the four mile walk and carrying their bags.”

Coach Magera is working to prepare his team as much as possible before the big weekend. One thing he has reiterated to them multiple times is the importance of proper foot care. He told them weeks ago to make sure to have their golf shoes broken in before the tournament. This is to avoid blisters and a long day of pain.

Another bit of advice Coach Magera gave to the young golfers was to always bring two pairs of socks. It is often rainy at this particular tournament because of the time of year. The players can easily get soaked; especially in the rough sections of the course, and wet feet can lead to blisters just as easily as new shoes.

Those are some of the little things the golf team will do in preparation for the first tournament of the season. Something they might not be prepared for, however, is playing under pressure.

“There is a nervous factor when you tee off at these big courses in front of the other kids,” Coach Magera said. “You have to keep moving.”

The golf team is young this year, and several of them only just starting learning the sport, so the competition will be a new experience for them.

The team is almost entirely made up of freshmen and sophomores but Coach Magera believes they all have potential.

“They are going to progress,” Coach Magera said. “They are working very hard. Some of them are very dedicated and stay after practice is over to keep working on their skills. They are going to do fine because they want to learn.”

As for the upcoming tournament, Coach Magera just wants his players to go out there, do their best and grow.

“They are going to have to shoot for personal bests. That is pretty much what all golfers do,” Coach Magera said. “It is a learning experience.”