Ready, set, golf.

The boys golf team is kicking off the season.

The boys golf team has played a total of five tournaments and nine matches in the season so far. This past Sunday, Aug. 28, senior Austin Hale recorded his best round ever of 78 at the Central Kentucky Shootout at Old Bridge Golf Course. Kyle Schuler also recorded his best score at the same tournament shooting an 81. The boys’ best team finish came on Aug. 21 at Wild Turkey Trace for the Anderson County Invitational. They finished 15 with a score of 385. In every tournament, the team has finished in the top 20, but has had no individuals in the top 10. July 30, for the Bullitt East Invitational at Heritage Hill Golf Club, the team placed 16 with a score of 406. On Aug. 3 for the Charger Open at Heritage Hill, they placed 17 with a score of 398. On Aug. 7 for the Spencer County Invitational at Long Run, the team finished 17 shooting 404. Aug. 14, at the Larue County Invitational at Old Kentucky Home Golf Course, the team placed 19 shooting 412. 

Kyle Downs, the coach of the boys golf team, says he thinks the season is off to a good start. “We started the season off a little slow, kinda getting everybody up to speed. There’s a lot of young players getting a lot of tournament experience this year,” Downs said. 

The boys have already shaved off about 20 strokes from their score this year, and Downs says he hopes to get that much more off by the end of the year. 

Junior Kyle Schuler agrees with his coach that the season has gone well mostly, but he also thinks there are some things they can improve on. “There are some tournaments that have gone well and some that haven’t gone too good. I just need to continue working on ball striking,” Schuler said.

Downs agreed that there is still room for improvement. Especially when it comes to ball striking. “We are focusing on a lot of short game stuff like putting and chipping and just kind of making sure we hit the ball solid right now and get it up there in the area of the green in regulation. If we can do that, our short game kind of takes control there,” Downs explained. Downs said that shots from 100 yards and in are really important, and even if the boys are not hitting the green, they can get their short game good enough to get up and down most of the time which will shave a few strokes off their score. 

Downs is mainly focused on just making sure the team improves every time they go out on the golf course. “Our main goal is just to get better. We have a lot of eighth graders and freshmen that are kind of playing their first tournament golf and even our older juniors and seniors played last year, but they need to go through a full year,” Downs said. Mainly the experience level of the players just needs to continue to grow. Playing in more and more tournaments is what will get them used to the pressure and help them perform. 

Schuler says that he definitely wants to continue to get better, but he has his sights set much higher. “I definitely want to do well at region and go compete at state,” Schuler said. 

The last time a boy golfer went to state was 2019, and Schuler aims to change that. It will be his first time going to state and he hopes that he continues to improve enough to reach his goal.