Blue Dragon Golfers Keep Collecting Hardware

By Chris Lachenmaier
Sports Editor
IG: @chrissylach

The Hutchinson Community College golf team is back at it again, winning championships. Coached by Chris Young, the Blue Dragons have recently won their seventh straight Jayhawk Conference championship, and then they won their 12th Region 6 championship on Tuesday in Manhattan.

“Every team is different,” Young said. “This year, I have eight freshmen and three sophomores. So up to this point, it’s not really as much about golf, it’s really been about how you act. You know, just being a good teammate, chemistry, just trying to build that chemistry. Everybody here is pretty talented. So, I’m not really worried about the result other than coming together, chemistry wise, and you know, a lot of the times it’s not the best team that wins a national championship.”

The Blue Dragons, who won national championships in 2021 and 2022, are ranked seventh.

Being together for the year has helped so much for HutchCC.

“I’ve seen a big difference from first semester to second semester with how they are getting along,” Young said. “You know, they all, all of them live in the dorms, and they are all roommates, except for one kid.”

Being from different countries – players hail from England, Ireland and Belgium, plus Kansas – choosing HutchCC might have been a hard decision, but Young has been in the game so long that there is trust.

“Kids that I’ve had here in the past, they go back home and they talk about the great experience they had at HutchCC,” Young said. “Or maybe they say that he’s kind of a jerk, that you probably don’t want to play for him. So, they go somewhere else, but that’s basically how it works.”

Jack Northgraves, a sophomore from England, agrees with Young in that coming to Hutchinson was the right decision for him.

“I’ve become a lot more independent in myself, especially because I have been away from home,” Young said. “I really enjoy it. I have found myself doing a lot more things for myself, rather than going to rely on my parents, I’ve just gotten a lot more independent.

Northgraves has used that experience to help mentor the newcomers.

“There were a lot of freshmen that came this year, so there was a big chance to meet new people,” Northgraves said. “There have been a lot of leaders in the group, trying to show people how to do things right, especially for Coach.  But outside ,it’s been awesome when everybody gets home there has been a well mix of international and American kids, so were basically a tight group. We got a chance to win them all and hopefully doing good in these next couple of weeks this will bring the confidence we need to go into nationals and bring it home. I think it’s the ability in the team. If we put together on the right week then it’s most definitely possible to go out there and do great.

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