A Good Walk Un-Spoiled

The victorious East High varsity golf team outside the Auburn Hills clubhouse. Let's cut right to the chase.  On Monday, we played at Auburn Hills (again).  In gale-force winds (again).  And we brought home "the dub" (as the kids say; for complete tournament results, click here ). Inspired by a fiery pre-round pep talk from their coach, which centered around the themes of mental toughness and 70-year-old ladies who had already walked the course in the tough conditions they were about to face, the boys brought home East High's first team victory in my tenure as coach.  It was a tremendous accomplishment for our team, and a confidence booster that will hopefully pay dividends as we continue to prepare for postseason play. During the round there were numerous exciting moments for our players, and several moments of pride for me personally.  Here are just a few: Talen Nasone for eagle!  Talen carded a three on the par-five ninth, and according to one coach, ve...

Talen Nasone (3rd) and Anderson Tung (T13) earned medals in Newton. After kicking off our season with a relatively rough day at Auburn Hills on April 8, the East High golfers got right back at it last Thursday as they took part in the Newton Invitational at Sand Creek Station Golf Course.  If you're not familiar with Sand Creek Station, it is truly one of the best courses in the region, and in fact, this July will host its second USGA championship, the 2024 U.S. Adaptive Open .  It is a challenging course that, coupled with the gale-force winds that were forecasted, would be an extreme test for our golfers. At Auburn Hills, sophomore Talen Nasone did not get his season off to the kind of start he was hoping for.  I was curious as to how he would react in Newton, especially considering how difficult the conditions would be.  I think he accepted the conditions as a challenge, because he reacted just fine.  He returned to form with a three-over par 75, which includ...

Alec Gatzulis tees off on the par-three 6th hole at Sim Park. Following a week of tackling two of the more difficult courses in the area, the East High boys golf team returned this past Monday to more forgiving territory (or so we hoped) at Sim Park Golf Course, competing in the first GWAL regular season event of the season.  Despite the looming tax-filing deadline, our boys full focus was on golf.  And it needed to be because the wind was a bear once again, making the easiest course in the city play much harder than it normally does. Even with the wind, East High showed improvement compared to our first two events of the year.  As usual, the Aces were led by sophomore Talen Nasone, who shot a six-over 77 to finish in 3rd place.  Most of us would be pleased with a third place finish, but most of us are not as talented as Talen.  And it's true that if he had been able to make a few putts, he might've had an opportunity to win the tournament.  Still, I was pl...

The top 12 (and ties) at the 2023 GWAL Championship, held at Sim Park GC. The East High golf team wrapped up their regular season on Wednesday, May 10, when they competed in the GWAL Varsity Championship at Sim Park Golf Course.  As I was reflecting on it today, it is difficult to believe that we have already reached this point in the season.  When I think back to my time as a high school golfer, I don’t remember the seasons being over so quickly.  But for some reason, this season has flown by.  It is true what they say: time flies when you’re having fun, and lots of fun I have had this season. With the unbelievable talent that would convene at this event, I was a bit concerned that Sim Park might not hold up very well.  It is the shortest course in the city, and there are no water hazards.  It also rained the night before, and sometimes a soft course leads to lower scores.  But for the most part the venerable old course stood up to the challenge, as...

(L to R) Alec Gatzulis, Arri Reilly and Ismail Saeed. On Monday, May 8, the East High JV golf team headed to Tex Consolver Golf Course to play in their final competition of the season: the GWAL JV Championship.  The weather was about what I think of when I think of golf in Kansas, although we haven’t yet experienced much this season: sunny, warm to almost hot, with a decent, but not overwhelming, breeze. Arri Reilly was the first to tee off for East.  As I was standing on the tee box ready to watch him, I glanced down and realized, to my disgust, that I was wearing a black belt with navy blue shorts!  Would this fashion faux paus be a harbinger of the horrors our golfers were about to experience?  After a couple of deep breaths, and after convincing myself that no, I didn’t need to go home and change, I watched Arri smash a drive that literally gave me goose bumps.  It was that good.  And I thought, “today might be a really good day after all”. The trut...

On Monday, October 10, the East High girls golf team traveled to the far-off land of Western Kansas to compete in the 6A KSHSAA Regional Golf Tournament.  As you might expect, besides Garden City & Dodge City, all the schools there were from the Wichita area.  Dodge & Garden make enough trips east that occasionally we have to be nice and let them host.   The tournament was held at Southwind Country Club just outside Garden City.  No one on our team (including myself) had ever seen the course, and most of us were in shock when we saw it.  One, because the course, located in the middle of what has essentially become a desert, was unbelievably beautiful & lush.  Water conservationists everywhere cringed at the sight of it.  But, more importantly, the shock was from the extreme difficulty of the course layout.  Each hole was lined, on both sides, by waist-high gunch that would swallow any golf ball that went near it.  Numerous bunke...

Following a one-day postponement, the Winfield Invitational was held on Friday, May 5.  The event was originally scheduled to be played at Quail Ridge Golf Course, but instead was moved to the Winfield Country Club.  When we turned onto the drive leading to the course, we were greeted by a sign that said “Winfield Country Club – Est. 1917”.  I had never before seen the course, but based on my limited intel, I assumed we were dealing with an old-fashioned and short golf course, one that would not be able to withstand the fury that modern golf technology could potentially unleash upon it.  I’m sure there have been instances when I was more wrong, but I just can’t remember when. As has been the case all season, the Blue Aces were led by Talen Nasone.  Unfortunately for Talen, his play was not up to his usual high standards.  He struggled to adapt to the greens, and never was able to develop a good feel for the golf course.  He shot his worst score of th...

The East High boys golf team was back at it again on Monday, May 1, teeing it up at Tex Consolver Golf Course for the final regular season GWAL event of 2023.  We finally got some spectacular weather and, despite the length of the course (Tex Consolver is the longest public course in the city) many of our guys took advantage, posting their best scores of the season. The Blue Aces were once again led by freshman Talen Nasone, who posted a three-over par 75, which placed him sixth.  He made an uncharacteristic mistake on the 7 th green, and followed that up with a bogey on 8.  But if you take away those two holes, he played the round at even par.  I was proud of him for how he bounced back.  He was once again grouped with Logan Lam from Southeast and Asher Whitaker from Kapaun.  Hole number nine at Tex measures 405 yards in length, and is a 90 degree dogleg over water. Asher Whitaker drove the green, and his ball ended up 10 feet from the hole.  Incredi...

As I left the building for our tournament yesterday, the air was cooler than I expected, but the sun was shining, and the wind was light.  Despite forecasts of rain later, it looked like it was going to be a GREAT day for golf.  But before long, clouds started to build, temperatures began to drop, and even though the wind started to lay down, the rain began to steadily fall.  By 7:00, the tournament had turned into one of my coldest experiences on a golf course.  But because there was no lightning, we played on, and unlike last week, all golfers completed their rounds before dark. East High’s top player was once again freshman Talen Nasone.  Most mortals would be pleased with a 75 in cold, wet conditions.  But when you miss ten birdie putts, including six that you really felt like you should’ve made, frustration is understandable.  Despite the missed opportunities, Talen finished 7 th overall, and once again shot the best score among all public scho...

Junior Anderson Tung putts on 18 at Auburn Hills. Anderson shot a 12-over 84. After five weeks of practice, the East High boys varsity golf team finally got their season underway on a spectacular, made-for-golf Monday, as they competed in the Bishop Carroll Invitational at Auburn Hills Golf Course.   This tournament had traditionally been played at Rolling Hills Country Club, possibly my favorite course in the Wichita area.  So you can imagine my disappointment when last week I realized it would be at Auburn Hills, the most difficult public course in the city.  As the tournament teed off, and the effects of the solar eclipse began to subside, the question was: would Auburn Hills  prove too challenging for the first tournament of the season? Unfortunately,  for most of our golfers, the answer was yes. Our entire team has high expectations for this season, as we return our entire lineup.  This includes two state-qualifiers from last season, and seven oth...