Martin, Dillon to lead Louisburg golf
Louisburg senior Ty Martin, a state qualifier a season ago, returns to lead the Louisburg High School golf team this season. The Wildcats open the year Monday at the Gardner-Edgerton Invitational.
The Louisburg High School golf team saw last season end on a positive note as three Wildcats punched their ticket to the state tournament.
It is an experience the Wildcats would like to repeat for the 2017 season.
Repeating that feat will be challenging for Louisburg as two of those state qualifiers —Hogan Welch and T.J. Svoboda — graduated and left some big holes to fill.
The Wildcats have a good start as senior Ty Martin returns after earning his first trip to the state tournament last season and went on to finish 74th with a 95 on the Ulysses course.
Louisburg will also look to a first-year varsity golfer to step in and fill the void. Freshman Calvin Dillon, according to head coach Brian Burns, will be one of the team’s top two golfers along with Martin.
“Calvin is a great addition to the team this year and I think he will be good for Ty,” Burns said. “It gives him some competition and Ty will have to play his best to beat him.
“Calvin is a straight ball hitter, but he has great touch around the green and is a good all-around player. Ty is a strong player too, but just needs to get more consistent with his ball striking.”
Along with Dillon and Martin, senior Jake Hill returns to take one of the varsity spots along with fellow senior Kai Tinich and junior Justin Sievert. However, Burns knows some of those spots could change as golfers improve throughout the season.
With cool, rainy conditions that have hovered over the area the last two weeks, the Wildcats haven’t had a chance to practice much on their home course at Metcalf Ridge, which has hurt some of the Wildcats in preparing for the season.
“My top two golfers already have good swing memory, so the weather hasn’t affected them,” Burns said. “However, some of my golfers from last year are still a little rusty and the new golfers need more repetition.
“Outside of Ty and Calvin, the others on the varsity roster probably shoot in the mid-90s at this time. Therefore, it will be hard to place in the top four as a team, but we’ll have two individuals that should medal most of their meets. I hope to have those 90s to the high 80s by mid-season. I feel like two out of my five golfers should be able to get there to give us a chance to medal as a team.”
The Wildcats open their season Monday when they travel to Prairie Highlands Golf Course for the Gardner-Edgerton Invitational. Louisburg is set to tee off at 9 a.m.
Louisburg will also host its home invitational on April 24 at Metcalf Ridge.