Salina Central’s golf team is seeded twenty-first in team rankings across Kansas with a score of three hundred fifty one.
Head Coach Chris Fear said that this year his goals for the team are not just for him but for the team as a whole.
“We want to be competitive in every meet and challenge for a top half finish,” Fear said.
Junior Thomas Payne said that the hardest thing during the season is to stay calm during tournaments.
“Something I struggle with during the season is staying consistent and keeping my temper under control,” Payne said.
Coach Fear said that improvement is always a big thing and this year he wants to help his players improve mentally.
“You need to be mentally strong in golf,” Coach Fear said. “You have to move onto the next shot especially if you have a bad shot. I want to help my players be able to think only about what is coming up.”
Junior Daygen Gawith, who is new to the team, said that he started golf for a couple of different reasons.
“I could not participate in track this year because I messed up my knee during wrestling season so I chose to play golf cause my dad played golf so it looked like fun,” Gawith said.
Gawith said that in addition to his difficulties he faced with his knee, he is also dealing with a separate challenge involving his hand.
“Two years ago I was just walking and I had like a mortar in my hand and it just went off in my hand like out of nowhere,” Gawith said. “I lost my thumb and this finger was off. It was pretty bad I had burns all over my body and I lost a lot of bone in my hand.”
Gawith said that when he plays golf sometimes his hand can affect him when he goes to swing.
“My finger is always broken. I can dislocate it. Sometimes I will be swinging and it will dislocate so you know I got to relocate it,” Gawith said.
As the season progresses Fear says that his players should never give up.
“Golf is a sport where you can not ever give up and forget your last shot, have fun and never quit,” Fear said.
Their next match is on April 25 at Salina South at 3:00 p.m.
