The Oconto Falls High School girls golf team will play three matches this week and three more next week.
After the Panthers played on a perfect day Friday for the Oconto Falls Scramble, temperatures are set to climb for the team’s marathon start to the golf season.
“It’s supposed to be in the 90s,” Oconto Falls coach Paul Luebke said. “That’s a whole different ball of wax. (The players) are going to have to go up against the elements. Mother Nature isn’t smiling on them.”
The start will be a key building block for a Panthers team that has a lot of young players and only one senior.
“We have a couple girls that came out from other sports or who didn’t do anything,” Luebke said. “They’re coming along. And I have seven freshmen. We have a good freshman group that came in. They just have to get used to golfing a lot. They have to get used to being out there with people from other schools.”
With the influx of freshmen, the team’s numbers are up overall. Twenty girls were out for the team this year, up from 16 a season ago.
Luebke’s goal is getting those players experience and adjusted to the high school game.
“They’re used to going out and practicing, golfing for two or three hours,” he said. “But not just going out and hard-core golfing nine holes with three other people out there with you.
“I’m just looking for the girls to improve their scores as the season goes on, because we are so young. A lot of them just started golfing once they got to high school.”
Juniors Julie Moore, who missed the WIAA Division 2 sectional by one stroke last season, and Elizabeth Coopman return to lead the varsity and to fill the void left by graduated senior Elizabeth Donart.
“The girls have put in a lot of time this summer,” Luebke said. “They’ve been going out and golfing on their own.”
Three sophomores are vying for spots on the varsity.
“Hopefully Brittany Russell, Rebecca Berkovitz and Bridgett Gorman can have some competition and push one another for the three, four and five spots,” Luebke said.
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