East High Golf (GWAL Championship Edition) - Wednesday, May 10, 2023

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 only four golfers broke par on this day.  To be fair, one golfer smashed par: Bishop Carroll’s Noah Holtzman, the defending 5A state individual champion, shot a five-under 66 for a four-stroke victory.  You can click here for complete tournament results.

But, East High had a couple of golfers who were no slouches.  As has been the case all season, Talen Nasone played great, and in my opinion, played his best golf of the season.  I saw him make three birdies, including a long birdie putt on a hole (number 15) where most every other golfer I saw was making bogey or worse.  If he had managed to par number 18, he would’ve tied for 2nd; but he still managed an exceptional score of even par 71, which tied him for 5th.  And because of his season-long excellence, Talen qualified for 2nd team all GWAL, and narrowly missed out on 1st team honors.  Quite an honor for a freshman. 

Anderson Tung came into the tournament having missed two days of practice and school due to illness.  I wasn’t sure how his body would respond to this, but the answer, as it turns out, was just fine.  He played his usual brand of steady, consistent golf, en route to an 85, and a 16th place finish.  His season-long consistency earned Anderson honorable-mention all-league honors.

Donovan Bergen posted a score of 97 to finish in a tie for 27th.  I was proud of Donovan because his back nine score was five strokes better than his front nine.  It’s always a good sign when golfers figure some things out and improve on the second nine.  Not only did Owen Knipp also shoot a better score on his back nice, but he also broke 100 for the first time this season, carding a 98 and finishing 29th.  Hagen Shane and Henry White came into the tournament with high hopes, but unfortunately some early struggles derailed their rounds.  Hagen finished 31st with a score of 100, and Henry finished 32nd with a 103.

When you read this on Monday, the Blue Aces will be on their way to the Manhattan Country Club to compete in their 6A regional tournament.  As you probably know, this tournament will determine if our golfers can earn the right to play in the state tournament, to be held in Newton at Sand Creek Station.  I am excited to see how they perform.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

East High Golf - Monday, April 8, 2024

Image
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 other players with at least some vars
Read more

East High Golf - Wednesday, September 27

Image
Jillian Hutchinson hits her tee shot at the 14th hole at Sim Park. For the second time in three days, the East High girls golf team competed in an 18-hole varsity tournament, this time at the North High Invitational at Sim Park Golf Course.  I knew going into the tournament that our girls had been improving, but in my three years as coach, I have never seen our girls collectively hit the ball so well.  It was awesome! Even going back to last year, Jillian Hutchinson had been so close to breaking 100.  At this same tournament a year ago, she shot an even 100, but in my time as coach, that is as close as she has gotten.  But on Wednesday, she hit the ball as well as I've ever seen her hit it, especially off the tee.  Her first few holes were a bit shaky, but she improved as the day went on (which is always what I want to see), and on her back nine shot a 45, the best nine-hole score an East High golfer has posted in three years.  She ended up with a 96, and tied with five other girls
Read more

East High Golf - Monday, March 25, 2024

The boys golf season got underway on Monday, March 25, with the West High JV Invitational at Sim Park Golf Course.  It is widely known that East High golfers are simply tougher than golfers from other schools, so we were hoping some truly abysmal weather would roll in for the tournament, rendering helpless our feeble competition. Thankfully we got our wish.  Allegedly the temperature was in the lower 40s when we teed off, but it felt much colder than that.  And by the end of the tournament, in addition to the cold, a heavy mist was coming down.  Because of the conditions, there was talk amongst the coaches of shortening the event.  But, with the image of the super-tough East High golfer in my mind, I told the other coaches, "you'll have to DRAG   my golfers off this course.  They live for this!" Okay, that last quote never happened.  I personally was miserable.  And to be honest, most of the golfers (from all schools) were miserable.  Regarding the weather, the quote of t
Read more