New golf coach for Demon boys

It is always nice to retire on top.

Last year, the Washington High School boys golf team finished seventh at the state tournament under coach Mark Berhow. Berhow is spending his extra time in the classroom this season instead of on the course and last year's assistant is this year's head coach. That man is Collin Stark.

'It is new, definitely still new to me,” Stark said. 'I have been helping Coach Berhow for the past three or four years. It's a lot different because before I was just out here to help anyway I could. Now I am calling the shots. It is definitely different. Coach Berhow was very strong with the swing and helping the guys with their swing. I am more about how are you going to maneuver the course. I want them to be sure to take advantage of different situations that they run into. I want them to be sure they know all the different situations that can arise with the rules, what the rules are and how they apply. I am definitely looking forward to the season as the head coach.”

Stark said he learned a lot from Berhow and is impressed with how committed he is to youth.

'I think that Coach (Berhow) was worried about the amount of time in the day and how it interferes with his teaching and he wants to focus on that,” Stark said.

Berhow is a fifth grade teacher. Stark is middle school math.

'Out here on the course, math is easy because you just have to count one stroke at a time,” Stark laughed.

There are eight golfers out for the team. Four of them return from last year.

The Demons lost their top two golfers from last year in Jacob VanOsdol and Dalton Meyers.

'They are going to be tough to replace,” Stark said. 'We do have two all-conference guys returning in Brock Sobaski and Brady Knutson. With them, it is all about how low can they go.”

Sobaski was a second team all-state selection as well.

'We have Caleb Tanner and Mitchell Driscoll, who were our five and six last year,” Stark said. 'They are going to be asked to step up and fill a bigger role this year. If they can get their scores in the low 40s, we are going to be a tough team to beat.”

Grayson Fedler, John Prochaska, Hayden Westphal and Grant Sobaski round out the lineup.

'We have a couple freshmen that I'd like to round out our top six,” Stark said. 'They should get a lot of experience this year. In each meet they should shoot lower. That is important because you never know how a specific day will go and one of the top four may not come through on a certain day. I think we should be able to compete with the better teams. We are not as deep as some of the better teams out there. Well with golf, it is all about playing well at the right time.”

If there is a weakness for the Demons, it is depth.

'Of our eight guys, we have two of them who are out to improve their game,” Stark said. 'Yes, depth will probably be your biggest weakness because we are asking some freshman to do a lot. After that you always hope for no injuries, which in golf, you wouldn't think would happen, but you never know.”

Although the youth is inexperienced, the team's scores should get lower as the season progresses.

'I think our team will continue to get better throughout the season,” Stark said.

One of the team strengths is not something one would associate with an individual sport.

'I think a strength that we have is the relationship our guys have with each other,” Stark said. 'What time we spend going to meets and practicing together helps them know their roles. I think that will turn out to be a good thing. I think it helps to be looking out for each other. There will be certain meets where you are going to be playing with a teammate. While you are going against him, at the same time you are competing as a team. If you are looking out for each other, whether you're at practice or at meets, you're helping each other out. In the long run, that makes each other better.”

If each other improves, the team improves.

'I think a big strength for our team is our returning guys,” Stark said. 'I think Brock and Brady will be competing with each other to see who will go lower and that will make them both better. That is a great thing to have at the top of your team. That competition with each other obviously makes them better, but hopefully will bring the team along with them too.”

Despite the youth and inexperience, the schedule will address both of those deficiencies.

There are six meets at home this year, so that should help the new kids and it should also help the veterans because they know the course well.

'We also have conference here,” Stark said. 'I would definitely think that having that many home meets would help the inexperienced ones. This is a shorter course but it has a lot of hazards. Number one has a creek. Number two is a pond, Number three has a creek number and four has the creek. There are a lot of things you have to maneuver around on this course. There's a lot of elevation change and that makes you concentrate on distance. I think playing this course will make other courses easier.”

Another schedule adbantage is playing on sectional and regional courses before those meets.

'our schedule is always building up towards the end because state is at the end of the year but the postseason meets are at courses we are familiar with and we will play them before those meets happen,” Stark said.

Sectionals are at Flint Hills in Burlington and the district is at Oskaloosa.

'It will be key for us to do well at those courses the second time we play them, especially since we will be competing against six or seven other teams to move on.”