 |
| Freshman Erik Holmstrom lone returning starter |
Only two year-freshman starter Erik Holmstrom and senior Grant Hauswirth bring any varsity experience to the 2013 season. Seven of last year's eight letterwinners graduated last spring.
"We will be looking for new faces to step up in a big way," Holmes said. " We have a few returning JV players and a host of new players in the eighth and ninth grade levels that are all relishing this changing of the guard."
The returning junior varsity players include seniors Grant Heidelberg and Nate Anderson; sophomores Sam Newcomb and Jake Trippel and freshman Jake Jensen.
With the late spring Holmes and assistant coach Terry Holmes have been limited to indoor activities such as shot visualization, situational play, putting techniques and rules interpretation.
"We really are not able to do many team related matters since we cannot hold tryouts until we can actually get onto a course and play," Holmes said. "Some of our earlier tournaments have already been pushed back which will make our season even more condensed time-wise."
Last spring Farmington started poorly but played its best golf down the stretch, finishing fifth in the Missota Conference and advancing to the championship round of Section 1AA Championships.
"I'm confident we can find our swings early and pick up in the Missota where we left off last year," Holmes said. "Once again the conference has some golfing heavyweights so we will have to mature fast to hold our own.
"We have made it through the first round of the section two years in a row now and hopefully that will become an expectation for our players...I will again be looking to get the team to a competitive place and hopefully in doing so we will get some individuals a real shot at a state tournament again."
Holmes said he will be asking a lot in the way of leadership from Holmstrom even though he is just a freshman.
"I'm excited to see how Erik will continue his strong play in his third year now as one of our top players," he said. "He was consistently our No. 2 scorer behind Tommy May last season."
Weather permitting, the Tigers open the season April 15 with a dual meet against East Ridge at Stone Ridge Golf Course in Stillwater.
