High School Golf Program Poised For Very Bright Future

For Holt and Timberland, this past spring golf season brought both optimism and varying degrees of expectations—and both schools had some things to talk about once the season came to an end.

“They certainly exceeded my expectations I had prior to the season,” Timberland head coach Kyle Lindquist said.

“I knew we were extremely young, one of the youngest teams in the state, and with three sophomores and two freshmen going to state we were by far the youngest team to qualify.”

Prior to this season, Timberland had seen just two golfers in school history get to state, one of which came last year. So with five qualifying this year and a ninth-place finish in the Class 4 state meet at Twin Oaks Country Club in Springfield, Mo., Lindquist gave all of the credit to the kids.

“It’s just a testament to a good group of kids coming through,” he said. “We’re building up a solid program, and even had some very solid golfers not make our lineup. Next year looks very bright for us.”

In fact, 2011 could be the beginning of a memorable run for the Timberland golf program.

The Wolves’ golfers who qualified for state were:

• Sophomore Jackson Lane, who placed 91st out of 100 (shot a 92 and 86 for a 178 total)
• Freshman Zach Cutler (88-87, 175) finished 88th
• Sophomore Ryan Keller (85-86, 171) placed 77th
• Sophomore Job Robertson placed 72nd (85-84, 169)
• Freshman Josh O’Hearn shot an 83 and an 81 (164) to place a solid 53rd

Lindquist had plenty of good things to say about each of the state qualifiers, starting with Lane.

“Jackson has been to state twice, but hasn’t gotten the best of it yet,” he said. “He was our most consistent golfer through the year and was No. 1 in scoring average. He’s got a few more years.”

Cutler, meanwhile, was a pleasant surprise.

“He’s a very impressive freshman,” Lindquist said. “I didn’t really know what to expect of him when he first came out. After tryouts, I thought he was headed for JV, but as the season progressed he worked his way up to No. 2 in scoring average going into districts.

“He was quite the surprise and is a great player with a bright future.”

Keller also showed improvement as the year progressed. “Ryan is definitely one of our most improved golfers,” Lindquist said. “He was clutch throughout the season, and really turned it on in tournament scoring towards the end.”

As for Roberson, he nearly didn’t even get the chance to qualify for state.

“He went back and forth from JV and varsity all season, and clinched his spot on varsity right before districts,” Lindquist said.

“He was very consistent, and you know with him what you’re going to get. I was very pleased with his scores at state, and he was the one that shot at state just as he had all year.”

O’Hearn was another impressive freshman. “He was third in scoring on our team, and is a clutch golfer. He’s another one that is going to have a very bright future,” Lindquist said.

Holt also had a pair of golfers compete at state, and coach Michael Jarrett began the season with a realistic view of his team.

“We had five seniors and a couple of younger players that played a lot over the summer and in the fall and I was optimistic,” said Jarrett. “I didn’t think we’d be a high-caliber team, but knew we’d be competitive.”

Senior Corey Robertson shot 79-78 for a total of 157, good for 19th place in the state meet.

“Coming into the season, I pictured him as my No. 1 golfer and that’s where he stayed for the whole season,” said Lindquist.

“He’s got a strong short game, and his only real downfall is in his putting. That’s what kind of kept him from being a state champion-type player. I was excited for him to finish 19th. He’s matured a lot as a player.”

Sophomore Jacob Spiegel was the other Holt golfer to get to state, finishing tied for 65th after shooting an 86-81 for a total of 167.

“Last year as a freshman he came in as a very good player,” said Jarrett. “He got the chance to play some varsity last year, but he struggled towards the end. But this year he came out in March and was striking the ball really well. He got better and better through the course of the season, and I look forward to coaching him next season.”