Redhawk golf lineups suffer from severe shortage of players

Posted

Kirk Boxleitner

kboxleitner@ptleader.com

The Port Townsend High School Redhawks golf teams played at home against Port Angeles March 29 and were hit hard by the shortfalls in their lineups.

PT’s Jacob Madison scored 47, Caleb Johnson earned 52, and Chris Durham scored 65, but because they were one player short of their minimum roster count, they received additional points for their “ghost” player, giving them a total of 234 points, which allowed Port Angeles’ full roster to beat them with 195 points.

The PT girls suffered even worse, because their lineup was limited to MacKenzie Lake, who scored 59 points, but was saddled with three ghost-player scores of 70 each. As such, the PT girls’ score of 269 was edged out by Port Angeles’ score of 239.

PT Coach Gabriel Tonan described Madison and Lake as his top players at the moment, even as he chided them slightly for not playing to their regular standards in this match.

“Both of them are making swing changes right now,” Tonan said of the two 10th-graders. “They have the most experience and play golf outside of the season. They started in my junior camps at a young age, 7 or 8, maybe younger.”

Tonan pointed out, unlike other high school sports coaches, he is not a schoolteacher. He runs the Port Townsend Golf Course.

Nonetheless, Tonan said, “I teach golf. I try and give them the tools needed to improve and hope that they stick to them until muscle memory takes hold.”

Of the rest of his players, Tonan noted that Caleb Johnson is his only senior.

“I have a young team,” Tonan said. “[Johnson’s] been pretty steady, even though he didn’t play last summer, because of hip surgery.”

The PT golf teams’ next match is set for April 9 at Port Ludlow against Chimacum.