East High Golf - State Tournament Edition - May 20-21, 2024

The East High golfers warm up before Day 1 of the state tournament.

Coming off of an exciting Regional tournament, where we coupled a third-place team finish with an individual championship, the East High Golf team culminated their season with the ultimate reward for their months-long effort: a trip to the KSHSAA 6A State Tournament, held at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Garden City.

We arrived Sunday afternoon for a practice round that was interrupted by a storm/monsoon, complete with gale-force winds and sideways rain.  But after the storm, you couldn't have imagined a prettier day.  We finished our round, and the boys' excitement for the next day was palpable.

Monday morning dawned a bit cloudy and cooler than expected.  And even though the weather eventually turned spectacular, for most of our golfers, their games and moods remained cloudy and cool.  Here is a quick rundown of how five of our golfers fared:

• 
  Kyran Shane - 116 (or 117), 93rd place - Just an all-around rough day for Kyran.  Still, having the opportunity to play in the state tournament as a freshman is a tremendous honor, and with some work in the offseason, Kyran will soon be one of the team's top golfers.
• Donovan Bergen - 109, 92nd place - Poor Donovan got off to the worst start imaginable, which kind of set the tone for the day.  While Donovan is a junior, he is thinking about graduating early next year, meaning this may've been his last time representing East High.
• Henry White - 104, 89th place - I mentioned Donovan's bad start, but Henry's was arguably just as bad, losing his first tee shot and having to walk all the way back to re-tee.  He did eventually mix-in some good golf, including a birdie and a handful of pars, but he also just couldn't avoid some big numbers.  And like Donovan, Henry is also contemplating an early graduation.
• Hagen Shane - 98, 87th place - Hagen, like Donovan and Henry, had a really rough first hole, but after that, he played fairly steady.  And like his brother, with some offseason work, Hagen has an exciting future ahead of him.
• Anderson Tung - 82, T57th place - Before the tournament, we felt that Anderson had a legitimate shots of making the cut and playing on day two, which would be the next step in Anderson's progression.  Unfortunately, a couple of early bogeys, along with a five (FIVE!)-putt on his seventh hole got him off track.  He did rebound with a 39 on his back nine, but his 82 proved to be four shots too many.  However, as has been the case all season, Anderson was positive and upbeat throughout.  In my opinion, Anderson has been the heart and soul of our squad all season.  I am so excited to see what he does during his senior year.
• One team note...despite our struggles, our team score was actually five shots better than our team score at Regional.  For complete tournament results, click here.

Talen Nasone hits his opening tee shot on Day 2.

Talen Nasone was the last East High golfer to complete his round, and as he and I walked up the fairway, I will likely never forget what I saw.  It would've been easy for the rest of our team to wallow in their frustration and disappointment, but instead, there they stood, next to the green to cheer on Talen.  They had been checking the scores online, and they were aware of where he stood: a par would give him a 70 (-2) and place him in a tie for 11th, only three shots back of the leaders.  It was awesome seeing all of them so excited for their teammate.  Talen did make par, and the entire team left the course that day with high hopes for what lay ahead the next day.

Unfortunately, not all stories have fairy tale endings.  It's difficult to say what happened during Tuesday's round two.  There was no wind on Monday, so the thirty mile-per-hour plus gusts on Tuesday certainly didn't help.  Perhaps Talen's coach and teammates were a little too excited, unknowingly heaping too much pressure on him.  Or, perhaps golf was just golf: sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't.  But whatever the reason, after a solid par-par-par start, Talen's second round (and game) came unraveled, and he fell into a bit of a funk that he just couldn't seem to snap out of.  Few players improved their scores from day one to day two (ten out of 54, to be exact), but Talen sadly was 14 strokes worse for his second round, going from 70 to 84.  Even sadder was the fact that by finishing T23, he missed out on a medal by one.  Stinking.  Shot.  Talen's disappointment was obvious, but I am hopeful he will learn from this experience and come back stronger next season.

Qualifying for the state tournament had been our goal all season, but once you reach a goal, I believe it's okay to reevaluate. Once we made it, we began talking about the team qualifying to play on day two, an accomplishment that would've required every player to play better than they had played all season.  While it was unlikely, you always hold out hope.  And when hopes are dashed, it's easy to get down on yourself.  That may've been the case for a brief time, but soon after we got in the suburban to head home, the laughs and conversation returned.  I am confident that the fun, positive memories of this trip (and this entire season) will overshadow any disappointment they felt over their scores.  I played four sports in high school, but I have often told people that playing high school golf was the most fun I had in athletics.  It was my goal as the coach of this team to help my players experience that same level of enjoyment.  Time will only tell if I succeeded.

Aside from the simple fact that this was state, this tournament was special to me for two reasons: my family was with me for portions of the tournament; and, as many of you know, it was my last tournament as the golf coach at East High.  After 21 years in the classroom, I have accepted an offer to become the middle/high school principal in Burrton, Kansas, a small town in between Newton and Hutchinson.  While I have been looking for an opportunity like this for some time, the thought of giving up this coaching job tore me up.

Prior to coming to East, I coached basketball for 15 years, and football for 10, but I often described the idea of being a golf coach as a "dream job".  Because of the golfers I got to work with the last three years (both boys and girls), it was nothing short of that.  No matter the difficulties I experienced during the school day, they all vanished once I was at the course with my team.  It was truly magical.  And by becoming a golf coach, I was able to briefly emulate one of my heroes: Mr. Bob Bergmann.  Rarely did a golfing go by that I didn't think of Mr. Bergmann and my time spent with him.  So, while I am incredibly excited about the new challenges that lay ahead for me, I am truly sad to be leaving my golfers behind.

A big thank you to Tom Perkins for giving me this opportunity three years ago.  The vetting process was rigorous ("you want the job...you're hired"), and hopefully he feels like he made a good choice.  Thanks to Jay Crayton for arranging all of my varied team travel demands.  Thank you to Paula Horsky for educating me on the nuances of operating an activity with zero budget and zero funds in it's account.  Thank you to Mark Brooks for agreeing to take over the program from me.  I was hoping it would be someone in the building, and someone the kids like.  He fits the bill on both.  Thank you to Brad Jenkins for filling in for me during all my golf-related absences.  Thank you to my fellow GWAL golf coaches for showing me how things are done.  I could not have imagined the friendships I would have formed with all of you.  Thank you to all of you who have made me feel so good about these stories I have written.  I realize they are way over the top, but you have humored me, and I have enjoyed doing it.  Thank you so much to all the golf parents and the support you have given me, along with the trust you have shown as I worked with your kiddos.  Thank you to my wife and family for tolerating the countless hours on the golf course away from them.  While coaching has brought me enormous amounts of joy, at times it has been hard on them.  And of course, thank you to my golfers.  I have memories of each of you that will stick with me forever.