BROOKINGS The Brookings boys golf team has competed in two events already and feel this is the best team the Bobcats have had in a long time.
Brookings has four seniors that have plenty of experience and head coach Andy Lee said the program has been building to a season like this.
I think this season has the most hype and is the most exciting for us because we have four seniors that have been with us since seventh or sixth grade. Everything has been culminating to this. Weve been competing the past two or three seasons and have been pretty competitive. Boys golf in Brookings has struggled for so many years and it feels like the past two or three years weve kind of turned the corner and it feels like this is our best chance this year, Lee said.
The senior class is led by Tyson Lunn. Lee said Lunn improved over the summer and has solidified himself as the top golfer on the team.
Tyson Lunn was either our one or our two last year and this year hes been our outright one. He played really well this summer with SDGA and then in tryouts he shot a 68, which is four under [par]. The first meet in Brandon, he shot one-under and came in second place. That was something he was lacking last year, as he shot in the 70s once last year, Lee said.
The other seniors include Rhys Heiberger, Issak Earley and Jase Bauer. Lee said hes liked what hes seen so far from them and thinks they will continue to improve as the season moves along.
Rhys Heiberger has always just been solid. Hes been in the mid to high 70s and low 80s guy. Issak Earley was starting to play well this summer in the SDGA and its been a bit of a slow start for him. Jase Bauer is a baseball guy so he can throw out a really good score for us and then can throw out a score in the mid 80s sometimes too. Were kind of waiting for those three to pick things up but were all right there, Lee said.
The Bobcats also have a pair of young guys that have caught Lees eye in sophomore Andrew Heinze and eighth grader Jack Baszler.
Andrew Heinze sticks out. Hes a sophomore and made the State Tournament as a freshman last year and was a top-four scorer for us on day two of State last year. Youre starting to see him hit the ball further and have the consistency of being able to throw up a high 70s score. Jack Baszler is an eighth grader. He played football last year and does a lot of SDGA events but made the decision to play golf over football. We took him with us to our quadrangular in Sioux Falls and he shot the team low with a 78 as an eighth grader. To throw up a 78 in your first varsity event is a pretty big deal, Lee said.
Brookings two biggest meets of the season are the Eastern South Dakota Conference Meet and the Class AA State Meet. The ESD Meet is Sept. 29 in Brandon and the Class AA Meet will be in Rapid City Oct. 6-7.
Lee said his team has goals both individually and as a team.
I talk with all the guys individually at the beginning of the season and we set goals with scoring and its a big deal and its motivating. As a team, the conference meet, theres so many good teams in the ESD and its hard to compete and we have to be realistic, but we set the goal of competing in the middle of the pack and being in the four or five spot would be a good result for us, Lee said.
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