The Clarke Central High School golf team practices on Feb. 25, 2016. Although having only four members this year has been hard on the team, junior golfer Troy Burgess says that he has been able to work more with head golf coach Brian Ash. “A pro of having a few players is (that) we get to get more time with the coaches,” Burgess said. “I honestly really like having a small team because we get to play the course which was hard when we had a big team.” Photo courtesy of Brian Ash.
By OLIVIA RIPPS – Sports Editor
With the 2017 golf season coming to a close, the Clarke Central High School golf team reflects on both the positives and negatives in only having four participants.
The 2017 Clarke Central High School golf team has had only four participants this year. Although this has been hard for the team, they have also seen benefits.
“In a sense, the number of players has been better for the team. I have been able to work more closely with players like Troy on his swing and I have seen him get a lot better,” head golf coach Brian Ash said.
Junior and golfer Troy Burgess believes that the small team has given him more of an opportunity to improve.
“The good thing about having only a few players is more one on one time with coaches. We are actually able to play the course for practice,” Burgess said. “When we had a big team, we had to leave the green kind of early and we could only practice putting and stuff. Now with a smaller team we can take things in increments.”
Though the lack of participants has helped the team to improve, there are also down sides.
“A major con is that when we play games we do not qualify. We still get to play but our score does not count,” Burgess said. “The good thing is that it does not affect us that much because we still try our best, but it is hard because we sometimes have bad matches (that do not count).”
Even with the disqualifications, the team still manages to find the positives.
“It has not been that bad. We never really have had a big team at Central in the years I have been here, and I do not want to have a big team just to have a big team,” Ash said. “It is almost better if I can work with just one of two people at a time. Of course we would like to have a bigger group, but not just to have a bigger group.”
