St. Regis reloads with top golfers
St. Regis senior Jack Connolly, shown here during last year's St. Regis Invitational Tournament, finished seventh in the State Class C tournament last year and is back for another season of Tigers golf. (Chuck Bandel/MI-VP)
Last year was a good year for the St. Regis High School golf team.
The Tigers had three players finish among the top 35 Class C golfers at the State Championship tournament.
And those three, including senior Jack Connolly, who finished sixth individually, are back for another go-round this year for long-time coach Dan Park, player and coach at St. Regis’ Trestle Creek Golf Course, the Tigers’ home course.
Connolly, who was red hot the last half of the season in 2023, fired a 171 during the State meet, helping the Tigers place seventh in the team standings. Highwood won the team title with a 510 score.
Also back from last season are juniors Kaleb Park and Dillon Thomas. Park finished 29th at the state meet, while Thomas was tied for 33rd in the individual standings.
Senior John Pruitt, a multiple sport star at St. Regis, also played last year but turned out for track this year.
The team will also be without Macy Hill, the lone female golfer from last year who graduated this past Spring.
Joining coach Park’s list of top players is junior Kaden Sanders, and sophomore Denver Thomas.
Park said he is optimistic about this year’s team for several reasons, topped perhaps, by the closeness of team members.
“Unity is the key,” Park said. “This is a close knit group of boys”.
Among the things the team has been working to improve on this year is the “short” game, i.e. chips and approach shots.
St. Regis begins play this season Thursday, April 4 when they travel to Hamilton for the Darby-Florence Invitational. The annual St. Regis Invitational, hosted by Trestle Creek, is set for Thursday, April 25.