SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill Boys Golf

Park Hill boys golf doesn’t return a lot of varsity golfers from last year, but coach Zach Dorrell sees that as a potentially good thing in terms of player development and parity among the top five.

Colby Buehler who saw success on the varsity level last year comes back as the Trojans only golfer which significant experience. Buehler was a sectional qualifier last season, but placed towards the bottom of the field in that sectional round tied for 44^th, which prevented him from advancing to the state tournament.

“He played pretty well all year for us,” Dorrell said. “He should be consistently in the low 40’s on nine holes. Right now, during the preseason, he’s probably our number”

Senior Dax Mullendore will join Buehler this year on the varsity level as he spent most of last season at the junior varsity level. Underclassmen Logan Lashbrook and Grant Brown are also looking to secure a top five spot on the varsity team in 2012. In the opening weeks of the preseason, Dorrell sees a lot of potential for young guys to get opportunities.

“It’s wide open right now,” Dorrell said. “We could see a lot of guys moving between varsity and junior varsity competition just to see what they can do.”

While many teams may see a large difference in the skill set between their number one and number fix golfers, Park Hill will host a team with a fairly well-rounded group this season, which is fairly rare at the high school level, but something the Trojans think can benefit them overall.

“We’re pretty even one through five, probably more this year than I’ve had in a long time,” Dorrell said. “The last couple year’s we’ve had one or two really good golfers, but now we’re more balanced which I think will allow us to score better as a team. This year I think we’ll have a better shot at being towards the top 1/3 of our competition.”

Park Hill will face some tough dual matches as they participate in a conference featuring the likes of Truman and Lee’s Summit West, two teams with traditionally strong golf programs. They host two consecutive matches on March 27^th and 28^th against North Kansas City then Pembroke Hill and Kearney.