Ronan golf in rebuilding season
Daniel Martynowicz
Daniel Martynowicz
Daniel Martynowicz
Daniel Martynowicz
Daniel Martynowicz
Melea Burke
Woody English drives down the fairway at the Ronan Invitational April 16.
Melea Burke
Sophomore Mariah Quintana concentrates as she plays the 18th hole during the Ronan Invitational last week.
Daniel Martynowicz
Daniel Martynowicz
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RONAN — First-year head coach Matt Olson said his goal for Ronan’s golf season is to give the kids a great experience, but what that means is open to interpretation.
“(A great experience) can mean a few different things,” Olson said. “It might just mean they fall in love with the game, or it might mean that we get a few scholarships for them, but overall, I just want the kids to have a great experience.”
Olson’s team is staggeringly young with the vast majority of his players being freshmen and sophomores. But, as Olson said, that’s not a bad thing. As he sees it, young players don’t come in with bad habits and can be molded to golf with proper form. For another, he wants to build a program, not a team.
“There’s a big positive to having a young team,” he said. “We’re not trying to build a team for one year — we’re trying to build a program. Getting the young athletes in the program is a positive, and I know they’re having fun and I’m more than pleased.”
Olson was reluctant to select standout players as he is building a team-oriented program, but did reveal the two pieces of advice he gives his players before every tournament.
“First, I tell them there’s no pressure because I’m already proud of them,” he said. “Second, I tell them that golf is a game and games are meant to be played,” implying that winning isn’t everything — having fun is.
“It’s the hardest sport I’ve ever played,” said junior golfer Brendan Andrews after narrowly missing a par-putt. “It’s all mental. Physical pain is fine to play through in any other sport, but as soon as it’s a mental game, it’s way different.”
Golf as a mental game or a game played against one’s self is one of the things Olson hopes his players will love.
“The game itself ... is always you against you,” he said. “It’s more difficult than it looks, so you will struggle and struggle and then you’ll catch a shot that’s pure. There’s really not much more enjoyment than hitting a golf ball well and watching it fly. That’s the true enjoyment of the game right there. You have a challenge in front of you; you overcome it; that’s a good feeling.”
Sophomore Darian Delaurenti said she was enjoying her first golf season, adding that her goal is to shoot under 100 by the end of the year.
“I like it a lot,” Delaurenti said. “It’s a lot of fun and I like the people I golf with.”
Delaurenti promptly smacked a 200-yard drive and started walking down the fairway, a modest smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, having just caught a shot that was “pure.”
“I didn’t think they would come this far this quick,” Olson said, adding that Delaraunti and Hales, a sophomore and a freshman, took sixth and seventh place out of nearly 90 athletes at the tournament. “I’m more than pleased with their progress so far. It’s a good bunch of kids and I think they’re really enjoying themselves.
“The good golf will come. If they have fun, they fall in love with the game. If they fall in love with the game, they’re going to improve. I want the kids to have fun because then they want to get better.”
Ronan Invitational Results
Boys Team Results
Loyola: 295
Seeley-Swan: 348
Deer Lodge: 366
Thompason Falls 366
Superior: 374
Bigfork: 378
Ronan: 400
Ronan JV: 462
St. Regis: 479
Girls Team Results
Loyola: 387
Ronan: 491
Bigfork: 486
Top Boys
Justin Galiher, Loyola, 72
Micah Nicholas, Seeley-Swan, 72
Tom Swanson, Loyola, 73
Jared Geer, Loyola, 73
Tommy Tirrell, Loyola, 77
Nick Descamps, Loyola, 78
Dallas Burgess, Plains, 79
Lars Gittings, Bigfork, 83
Austin Hakes, Ronan, 84
Blake Weimer, Bigfork, 85
Top Girls
Maggie Crippen, Loyola, 82
Saddie Crippen, Loyola, 86
Brooke Bezanson, Loyola, 95
Maddie Lorang, Bigfork, 102
Savannah Schalk, Deer Lodge, 102
Darrian Delaraunti, Ronan, 110
Lauren Hales, Ronan, 118
Kallister Meagher, Bigfork, 123
Julia Downing, Loyola, 124
Dylan Carlson, Bigfork, 127
Katie Hood, Seeley-Swan, 127
