While last year’s Owen-Withee golf team fell short of its goal of challenging for a conference championship, some members of the team enjoyed individual success, with Quinn Hatlestad and Sam Rasmussen advancing to sectionals.
And while Hatlestad graduated last spring, Rasmussen returns for another season with the Hawks.
“I expect Sam to continue having success and compete to get All-Conference and make a run at getting to state this year,” says Head Coach Josh Jalling about his returning sectional qualifier.
Jack Wendler also returns this year after falling just a few shots short of also making it to sectionals last season.
With Rasmussen and Wendler leading the way, this is an experienced team with four of the five starters coming back (Hatlestad was the only graduating senior). That experience should lead to being more familiar with the courses that they have to play multiple times throughout the season.
When reflecting on why the Hawks fell short as a team last season, Jalling mentioned consistency.
“We have some talent, but can we do it for nine or eighteen holes?” he explains, “We can’t have one or two bad holes that hurt our scores. In the past, this has been a problem for us.”
The Hawks’ first varsity match is scheduled for Tuesday, April 22, at the Black River Golf Club in Medford.