Lynx golfers poised to return to podium

Brandon boys’ golf coach Scott Carroll says it’s time for the Lynx to return to the awards stand, and he believes this year’s squad has the potential to get there.

“It’s been a couple years since we haven’t placed, so we would like to get back there so we’re chasing something at the end,” he said.

Graduating just one senior – Zane Swenson – from the 2016 squad, Carroll looks to a pair of seniors – Mitch Gusso and Lucas Schobert – to guide the relatively young team that lists one junior, one sophomore and two freshmen.

Junior Jackson Faber, sophomore Austin Swenson, and freshman Matt Gusso all return to the team with varsity playing experience, and Emmet Hansen, a freshman, completes the six-member varsity roster.

Mitch Gusso tied for 44^th place at state as a junior, while Schobert was the top place winner for the Lynx in a tie for 41^st. Austin Swenson and Matt Gusso placed 65^th and tie for 48^th, respectively.

“I think losing Zane definitely hurts a little bit but I think these guys will be better this year than they were last year,” Carroll said. “I am expecting an improvement from last year as we have almost the whole team back. They have another year under their belts and the competitiveness of playing in these (conference and state) tournaments will help. I am hoping to be very competitive for the ESD title along with a top-six finish at state.”

Unlike previous seasons, Carroll views the Eastern South Dakota Conference as wide open this year.

“As far as the ESD goes, it’s up in the air and we definitely have a shot,” Carroll said, giving a slight nod to Pierre. 

“Every year we make a goal of finishing in the top two or three of the ESD, and you always want to get the hardware at the state tournament,” he adds.

The Metro Conference, however, presents bigger challenges from the four programs in Sioux Falls – Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and O’Gorman.

“The Sioux Falls schools again are going to be good and as far as the state goes, we were right in the middle last year, and I think we’ll be around there, if not better, this year,” the coach predicts. “We had a really good run for a while of placing at state and we missed out by a couple last year, but I would love to get back into that top six in the state, and that’s very obtainable. The kids have talked about it and they want that.”

To achieve that desire, Carroll said the boys have to play as though “every stroke matters.”

“Last year we had a lot of meets that we (lost by) a stroke or a couple strokes or things like that, so I know that’s always in the back of their minds that every stroke matters, and when there are so many teams that are this close together, those one or two strokes really, really do matter,” he said.

Brandon Valley’s 2017 boys’ golf season teed off last week with a two-day Metro Conference tournament. The Warrior Invite was played at Willow Run on Aug. 14 and the competition continued Aug. 15 with the Lynx Invite at the Brandon Golf Course. 

The opening week competition continued on Thursday when the Lynx hosted Harrisburg and Madison in a Ryder Cup format at the 3-par Hidden Valley Golf Course in Brandon.

“It’s a fun first week of the year and should get the kids going,” Carroll said.