No Pirate qualified for state so the high school golf season is over this year for the Englewood High School boys team.

“We knew going into the season that this had to be considered a rebuilding year since we were so young and inexperienced it would be almost impossible for us to be competitive in our league,” coach Brian DeHerrera said. “However, I am proud of the kids. They worked hard and some of the guys cut 20 or more strokes off their scores over the course of the season. We didn’t win any matches but I hope the guys learned something about the game and had fun playing golf.”

He said all this year’s work provides a solid foundation for an improved team next year. DeHerrera said there were nine kids on the team and the only two seniors were both first-year golfers.

He said at the end of the season, he urged all the golfers but particularly the underclassmen to get out an play this summer and perhaps even get into a junior league so they could continue to improve their skills. The coach said, if the kids work on their game, the Pirates will take to the course next season as a much improved team and could move up to the middle of the league standings.

Golf season lasts about six weeks, starting in mid-August and ending at state in early October. During this year’s regular season, the Pirates played six league matches plus the regional tournament that determines the state qualifiers.

Over the course of the season, junior Mitch Chapman consistently shot the best rounds for the Pirates. He played five of the six matches and his high score for the season was a 101. However, his scores dropped steadily and the final regular-season match, he shot an 89.

The coach said the drop in scores was across the board for the other four golfers who shot the majority of the varsity matches, sophomores Garret Heidrick, Chris Worek and Kenneth Cruz. All saw drops of 10 strokes or more in their scores over the season, DeHerrera said as well as the other golfers on the team, Adam Van Dyke, Collin Weddle, Evan Cheadle and seniors Dallas Harmon and Trevor Kline.

“The biggest improvement in technique I saw was all the kids including the beginners learned how to hit the ball every time they swung the golf club,” he said. “That is a must for a starting point. Then, once you hit the ball with every swing, you can begin working on accurately hitting the ball where you want it to go.”

The coach said the drives improve and, for most, so did the short game for all the golfers. However, DeHerrera said one of the toughest golf techniques to master is accurate putting. But everyone worked hard at putting better and, although everyone still needs to work on it, he saw putting steadily improve during the season.

The Pirates practices at the Broken Tee at Englewood course and DeHerrera said course pros from the McGetrick Golf Academy did stop by to help the kids improve their golf techniques.

“Like I said, I’m proud of the kids because they never quit trying and never quit working to get better,” the coach said. “Now, they just need to keep playing golf and come back so we’ll have a better Pirate team next season.”