SIDNEY, Neb. — The Sidney Girls Golf team is focused on improvement and having fun this season.

Head Girls Golf Coach Tyler Shaw said he has eight girls on the team this year.

“We have a few first-timers in freshmen, and we have one first-timer as a sophomore and three other returners,” Shaw said.

Shaw said this season is all about getting better and progressing through the season.

“Our goal is lower scores than we had last year and finish a little bit higher as a team than some of our previous tournaments,” Shaw said. “We lost one senior off of last year’s team that was likely our second or third golfer, so we’re going to have to have somebody step into her shoes, but we returned one state qualifier.”

Senior Aubree Larson qualified individually for state last season.

“I like the individual aspect of it,” Larson said. “You get to push yourself and you don’t have to rely on anybody else.”

Larson said she has been playing since she was eight years old and plans to play after high school as well.

“I’m most looking forward to continuing my golf career after high school,” Larson said. “By having colleges look at my season this season.”

Shaw said with a lot of first-time golfers on the team he tries not to put too much pressure on the athletes.

“We still want to be competitive, and we want them to take it seriously, but with so many first timers we don’t want them to get over-stressed,” Shaw said. “It is a stressful game, especially when things aren’t going well, we just try to keep them relaxed and go out there and do the best they can.”

The team will have around nine varsity meets and one home meet this year.

Senior Audrey Splichal said her favorite part about golf is getting to be outside instead of in a gym.

“What I’m most looking forward to during the season is seeing how much I can advance and get better,” Splichal said.
 

Shaw said he thinks many people don’t know that golf is an option.

“Hopefully, our numbers will keep going up and getting more competitive as the years go on,” Shaw said.

Shaw said his favorite part is hanging out with the team.

“They’re super eager to learn and a super cool group,” Shaw said. “Getting better is kind of the payoff, we have a lot of first-timers, and watching those scores go down is exciting.”

Both senior girls agreed the most difficult part of the sport is keeping a positive mentality.

“Just getting out of your head and being able to overlook the bad shots is probably the hardest part,” Larson said.

“Come out and see us on August 23rd at The Hillside Golf Course, it’s your only chance,” Splichal said.