PHS golf laying foundation for future

Posted 8/20/15

The Panthers start their season at home today (Thursday) at the Powell Golf Club, just three days after they began practice.

Head coach Troy Hildebrand said his aim is to give his players what they lack the most — experience.

“We’ve had …

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PHS golf laying foundation for future

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Season starts today at Powell Golf Club

The youth that limits the Powell High School golf team in 2015 may be what elevates it in 2016 and beyond.

The Panthers start their season at home today (Thursday) at the Powell Golf Club, just three days after they began practice.

Head coach Troy Hildebrand said his aim is to give his players what they lack the most — experience.

“We’ve had state championship individual players and we’ve had state championship teams,” Hildebrand said. “This is a group that doesn’t have that same foundation of experience, but it’s a nice group of kids that are interested in the game.”

That interest can serve as enough of a spark to keep the game enjoyable during the growing pains. The goal is to have golf bleed into the offseason, when players can improve on their own between Wyoming’s brief fall and spring golf seasons.

“For the group that we have, it’s about growing the game for our team, and also growing as individual players as we look down the road,” Hildebrand said. “We know what kind of commitment we need to make to get to that next level.”

With a roster so young, the program can expect a large core of returning players in 2016, potentially with the foundation of experience that Hildebrand says is necessary for greater success.

“We just have one senior that’s been a member of a state team before in Robert Rodriguez, and one newcomer senior that is trying golf for the first time, so we’re not losing a ton of players this year,” Hildebrand said.

If the basic skills are adopted by the freshmen, sophomores and juniors, and if a fire is lit under enough players to inspire offseason work, the Panthers could see a jump in performance and results next season.

“With the right type of season this year, and the right type of growth, that can change how we see the future for us, hopefully,” Hildebrand said.

As for this season, only the boys will stand a chance to post any team scores.

Only one girl golfer — freshman Rylee Ramsey — is on the roster.

“She has a little bit of experience in the past (and) has a great attitude, so we’ll see where we can get her by the time conference and state rolls around,” Hildebrand said.

The longtime PHS coach said fielding a girls’ team is traditionally a difficult task.

“It’s never huge on the girls side. We’ve had three for the last couple years ... so it’s not a surprise,” Hildebrand said.

Volleyball, swimming, cross country, cheerleading and tennis provide girls with plenty of athletic options during the fall. Golf is more of a niche sport that takes a concentrated effort and desire to play on a basis regular enough to become competent.

“If you don’t have any exposure (to golf), it’s not what you pick off the shelf,” Hildebrand said. “You can show up at cross country and be a competitive runner. The first day you show up, you could be pretty competitive and pretty gifted at it. It’s very seldom that someone is just naturally gifted at golf from the first day they start at golf. It’s innately a challenging game.”

This season will largely be about reps. The more swings taken by each player, the more likely they are to improve — not just at the game of golf, but at the specifics of high school competition.

“You have to be able to consistently move the ball around the course, understand the rules, pace of play, etiquette, that whole package, before you can become competitive or be in tournaments,” Hildebrand said. “In my opinion, you really have to have all of those things where you have a positive tournament experience for you and the people that are playing with you.”

While many coaches are concerned with giving players enough playing time to keep them happy, Hildebrand says too much playing time could have a negative affect on newer golfers. He wants high school tournaments to be enjoyable events for his players, and wants to protect them from experiences that could drive them away from the game.

“There has to be a comfort level there, where you’re not too nervous playing with someone from another school,” Hildebrand said.

Once that comfort level is achieved, Hildebrand can foresee some rapid improvement in his players.

“Real novice to functional is a leap that we can make. It’s where we go from there that is really that next step that they have to decide,” Hildebrand said. “There’s a lot of levels after you get to that functional plateau to become competitive. There’s a lot of nuances and things that just come with repetitions on the golf course, where you learn how to score and get the ball into the hole. There’s really not a great way to teach that other than experience.”

The Panthers will stay home for the season-opening tournament at the Powell Golf Club. The first groups will tee off at 1 p.m. today (Thursday), and restart at 8 a.m. on Friday.

“It will be nice to be at home, where we’ll know where we’re going, know the course set-up and those types of things,” Hildebrand said.

Roughly half of the PHS team will compete at the Panthers’ home tourney.

“We’ll probably have six to eight players who get a chance to play on our home course,” Hildebrand said. “Then we’ll make some decisions from there.”

The Panthers won’t compete during the first week of school, as Hildebrand will continue his early season evaluations.

“That gives us an extra week to see who’s ready,” Hildebrand said. 

The Panthers will return to tournament play on Sept. 3-4 in Lander.

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