Golf wins the Jayhawk West title

By Taryn Gillespie

The HCC golf team is going into Regionals next week with a conference championship.

They are in first place in the Jayhawk West conference and are working towards qualifying for the national conference in Melbourne, Florida, May 17-20.

“If we play well enough in this next tournament we will qualify for nationals for the 16th year in a row,” Chris Young said.

“In the past 16 years we have come out of nationals with the best finish being 6th place. Last year we placed 9th in the national tournament.

During the conference tournament April 18 and 19 the team took a second place win following another second place and a first place win to come out conference champions.

HCC student Lewis Schenk, Canberra, Australia placed first in this tournament to help the team gain the win.

“The night before our conference tournament Dax Shaw a fellow sophomore and I had a discussion about how we planned to play the course,” Lewis Schenk, Canberra, Australia said.

“I stuck to my game plan and played smart and made a few putts and was able to come out on top.”

Coach, Chris Young believes the experience is helping give this team a shot at going to the national tournament.

“One thing this team has going for them is it is a veteran team” Chris Young said.

“Of my starting five, I have four sophomores and one freshman, that gives us an advantage because we have been there done that.”

This year the team competed in five tournaments.

At three of the five tournaments an HCC player took a first place win.

“For me my win this season was a big confidence boost for me,” Chase Cobel, Olpe said.

“When one of us places first in a tournament it gives our team a better chance to win and that the ultimate goal.”

For Shaw, this team has a good bond and they want to play together and win together.

“I think this team is different from previous teams because we want to win together,” Dax Shaw, Arkansas City, Arkansas said.

“In previous years players have played more for themselves and not the team and that isn’t the case this year.”

Cobel won as an individual but the team is his main focus.

“We are a very experienced and motivated team,” Chase Cobel, Olpe said.

“We all want to get to compete at the national level and that is possible for our team this year. We all just have a love for golf.”

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