While all other fall high school sports must wait another week before beginning official practices, the Montezuma-Cortez boys’ golf team gets underway on Monday, Aug. 10 at 8 a.m. at Conquistador Golf Course.
Head coach Micah Rudosky is excited to start the 2015 campaign. Especially with the team’s first confirmed tournament scheduled for Monday, Aug. 17 at Bookcliff Country Club in Grand Junction.
Rudosky expects the team to have about 12 golfers, and will hold qualifiers to determine the top five players who will represent the varsity team.
The Panthers lost four varsity players from last year’s team to graduation, including Tristan Shelby, Ryan Aiken, Levi Gross and 2014 Class 4A Western Slope League’s player of the year, Hayden Plewe.
But juniors Killian Keiser, Forrest Gomez and Braden Keetch, and sophomores Luke Gross and Cristoffer Rudosky all return with valuable experience.
Coach Rudosky envisions a bright future for the young team.
“We’re a very young team now,” he said. “But in the next two years I feel like we can build up a nice strong team.”
Rudosky explained how the Panthers have had great individual players in recent years, but have yet to put together a great team.
“But that’s starting to change,” he stated. “I’m excited to see these young kids coming up that are playing some great golf.”
After admitting that the young team will be challenged, Rudosky made it clear that its youth does not change the team’s goals.
“We want to go in as a strong western region team,” Rudosky said. “We want to go after our regionals and get into state. That’s where we want to be.”