Bobcats golfers ready to hit the links

There is a common thread that runs through the high school golf coaching community around here, and perhaps everywhere.

Without exception, those who coach the game do so at least in part for their own love of the game.

Superior High head coach Seth Kuhl is no exception.

Despite the loss of a player who made it to the Montana state Class B-C championship tournament four straight years, Kuhl’s coaching goal remains the same.

“To teach student athletes how to play this life-long game,” he said when asked what is his coaching goal.

This year, he and the rest of the Superior Bobcats golfers will be without the services and outstanding play of now graduated Carter Mclees, who last year earned a fourth consecutive trip to the State finals. Twice in those four years, he was named one of the top 15 high school golfers in the state.

That will be a big loss to overcome, but Kuhl and the Bobcats will remain competitive in part because they are learning the beauty of the game, which was once described by one national writer as “A Good Walk Spoiled”.

Back for another year with the Bobcats boys' team is a trio of solid golfers ready to hit the links. Senior Owen Doyle, who missed the cut to make the state tournament last year by just two strokes, is back for his final year of high school golf.

He is joined by a pair of sophomores, Phin Cataldo, who made it to the state tournament last year as a freshman, and Brydon Drey.

This will be an even more challenging season than most as the Bobcats have been moved up from the Class C ranks, to Class B. And within the state Class B Western Division of which Superior is a new member, there are some outstanding golf teams the Cats will meet throughout the season.

“We have bumped up to Class B golf, so we have a new division,” Kuhl said. Those new opponents include first and second place teams from last season, Anaconda and Jefferson on the boys side, and second place Jefferson on the girls schedule.

Kuhl said one of the main things he hopes to improve on is the game of golf itself.

“Knowledge of the game,” he said when asked what the main thing he would like to continue to improve on is. “The more you know, the lower your score”.

The Bobcats get a chance to see where they stand this Friday when they play local teams from Thompson Falls and Plains at the Wild Horse Golf Course north of Plains on Highway 200.

The nine-hole triangular meet starts at 1 p.m. The following Thursday (March 28), the Cats will get a close up look at Jefferson’s 2024 version when they take part in the Jefferson Invitational in Helena.