Demon boys looking for postseason success

The Washington boys? golf team fell short of its goals last year, but the ship is looking to be righted in 2015 with an experienced crew returning to the links.

With five returning varsity golfers this season, the Demons will look to the top returner in Derek Anding, who earned All-Conference honors last season as a sophomore, to help lead the way.

His goals are set about as high as they can go, with May?s state tournament clearly on his mind.

?My goal is to make it past sectionals this year,? Anding said. ?We haven?t done that the last few years, so that?s what we are going to try to get to. We set goals every year and our goal is to go to state, and we just have to shoot low scores to get there. (Making state) would be big for me. I love golf and I?m out here a lot. It would be huge.?

Anding said his big goal is to work on his mid-range game, and hit more greens in regulation this season.

?(My irons) weren?t very good last year and I didn?t hit very many greens,? Anding said. ?If I hit greens this year, it should be a good year.?

The Demons will be looking to replace Ryan Waite, who took third in a playoff at the conference meet last season, and they feel they have a freshman who can step right in and be a contributor.

?Dalton Myers is going to be someone who fits right in and takes Ryan?s place,? Washington boys? golf head coach Mark Berhow said. ?He won the junior tournament last summer and he?s scored in other tournaments. His practice rounds so far put him up there right away.?

One of the top senior returners for the Demons will be Blake Weidman, who has been dealing with a thumb injury that sidelined him during the end of basketball season.

Weidman said he thinks he?ll be ready to go for the first meet of the season on April 9 in Mt. Pleasant.

?(On Wednesday) I went out and hit and I?m going to be back before the first meet,? Weidman said. ?I haven?t had much practice yet, so I might not be the best.  If it was my choice I would have come back a long time ago, but I couldn?t grip the club or anything. I?m slowly easing back into it.?

With a talented team this year, Berhow thinks that, on paper, the team will have a good shot at competing for the conference title and at advancing to the state meet.

?We have a realistic goal of winning conference this year,? Berhow said. ?Fairfield was a strong team the last two years and had a really strong senior class (last season). Five were seniors, so now they have one strong golfer left, that I?m aware of. I think we would be favored to win conference this year, but it?s at Fairfield, so you never know.?

While Berhow said his team is focused on the short game in the early part of practice this season, he noted that ultimately, he wants to always be helping teach something more important to his athletes.

?I want these kids to understand that your integrity is more important than your score,? Berhow said. ?How they hold themselves on the course, how they call penalties on themselves speaks very highly or very lowly of them. I?m hoping that having those expectations will help them think they can do more.?