Plains boys, girls teams struggle with conditions at state
Plains boys, girls state qualifiers Alec Cole, Fame Lopez, and Shayna Burgess entered the Class-C State golf tournament Tuesday and Wednesday with an abundance of confidence.
The trio had already golfed at Double Arrow at Seeley Lake twice this season. However, unfavorable weather conditions negated the group’s experience at the state tournament.
Plains boys’ No. 1 golfer Alec Cole, who usually consistently shoots in the 80s, finished the two-day event firing a 94-95 and shooting a cumulative total of 189. Cole fell strokes short of receiving all-state accolades. The last all-state accolade went to Gardiner’s Jaob Perius, who shot a 189 in his round of 18.
“It wasn’t so much the course, it was the weather the golfers had to deal a lot with,” Plains’ golf coach Carl Benson said. “There was a lot of casual water and cold conditions, and everyone competing had a little bit of a tough time. All of the scores were a little bit higher than average and there isn’t much that you can do about the weather.”
Harlowtown’s Reed Wasson won the tournament by firing an 81 and 80, shooting a cumulative total of 161. Benson said the scores, from top to bottom, were a “little high.”
“It wasn’t too windy, it was just cold and wet,” Benson said. “I think it was 36 degrees but at least we didn’t get the snow. Luckily, we were able to go through the meet the day before. We went and had our practices and it was fairly nice. Then that system moved in and all kinds of kids dealt with the changing conditions. In golf, you can’t change the weather. You just have to learn how to adapt to it.”
Plains’ golfer Fame Lopez finished the last meet of the season shooting 118 and 114. Burgess completed the tournament with a 128 and 130.
Benson said coaching the kids this season was “fun.”
“When you look at it, Alec and some of the other kids were relatively new to the game,” Benson said. “They did a great job, always stayed focused, and were trying to learn the game of golf the best they could. We had a lot of fun in the short amount of time we had working with the kids. They were very coachable and always listened to what we were trying to tell them.”
Some of the rules of golf that Benson and his coaching staff emphasized to his players helped out at state, Benson said.
“During the meet, there were delays,” Benson said. “Players didn’t know what was going on. During our practices, we taught them how to play the rules of the game and the etiquette that goes with the sport of golf. Fame Lopez was explaining some of the rules to some of the other kids that didn’t know what was going on. We are glad that we taught them a sport they can be part of for the rest of their lives.”
Benson anticipates the majority of his team will return for the 2018 golf campaign.
“We have some interest from some of the younger kids coming up and several of the junior high kids have expressed interest in coming out for the golf team,” Benson said. “Next year, we should have kids that are interested in coming out. We will just have to wait and see.”
Benson said the “recruiting process” will begin in the fall of 2017 when they begin looking for kids to join the 2018 team.
“We usually start looking for kids in the fall when you get kids back to school and then we get a good idea of who is interested and who really isn’t,” Benson said.
Benson said he enjoys teaching players that are brand new to the sport of golf and he anticipates his team will be “young” next season.
“The kids were a lot of fun to work with and it was enjoyable,” Benson said. “They worked very hard. It was still a successful season and learning about the game makes it enjoyable. There will definitely be a learning curve next season but it’ll be fun.”