Golf team looks to split the fairways

Published 8:32 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – The Mount Si Wildcats boys’ golf team is long removed from the days of Lee, Armstrong and Proudfoot leading the way to state runner-up finishes, but the Wildcats, buoyed by a former star’s brother and a crop of freshmen, are poised to make a return to the top of the Kingco 3A Conference.

The team went a respectable 5-6 last fall under coach Garrick Phillips, but is likely to add a couple more wins to its schedule this year thanks to more non-league matches and the emergence of top freshman Jon Larson.

Larson, whose brother Eric was a top golfer for Mount Si prior to his graduation in 2002, credits his sibling with helping in his preparation.

“He’s taught me how to calm down because it took him a matter of years and he’s told me some sayings in golf to calm down if I miss a little short putt, and he said ‘just kind of think about how you’re going to make it up later in the round,” said Jon Larson.

Among the top returnees are junior Kyle Clearman and senior Blaine Sutton.

Phillips expects the fairness of courses to be good for his team this season.

“It’s pretty average. We’ll play on some courses that are easier than Mount Si and we’ll also play on some courses that are tougher,” he said. “It’s really a fair golf course. The great advantage for us is that we get to practice a lot on this course and the golf course is really good to us.”

According to Phillips the large turnout of freshmen is attributed to spring golf programs at the middle school level in the Snoqualmie Valley School District. These programs are fairly new, but they do a lot.

“What it does basically is it gives these kids the basic knowledge of the game, and then the ones that are very interested, they’re going to go out on their own and get lessons. A lot of them are taking lessons here at the golf course and the staff here helps out tremendously with that and so the kids that really get interested in it are the ones that are going to go out and practice and become players,” said Phillips.

Phillips expects another mid-pack finish for his golfers in Kingco 3A this season, with Newport, Mercer Island and Bellevue being the favorites.

What makes this sport unique from all others at the high-school level in Washington is that while the regular season is in the fall, the state tournament won’t take place until next spring.

Clearman opposes this setup for a number of reasons, including the fact that many golfers play other sports in the spring and don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to golf.

“I don’t really agree with it, but you’ve got to live with it,” the junior said.

Phillips doubts the system will change anytime soon.

“I don’t see it changing because half the state plays golf in the spring and that’s why they do the state tournament in the spring. I don’t think it gives us any disadvantage at all. You have plenty of time for the kids to get out and practice intensely before the state tournament comes around and so, no, I don’t see it as being a problem at all,” the coach said.