Some boys golf teams rebuild, some reload

Depending on how you look at it, some area boys golf teams are rebuilding while others are reloading.

St. Bede lost 2020 BCR Golfer of the Year Nathan Potthoff, but returns two golfers that turned in top four scores for the Bruins’ regional champions.

Bureau Valley returns five lettermen, but only two of whom are seniors.

Hall brings back a strong nucleus that has a combined 10 years of varsity experience.

Princeton graduated its core of proven varsity talent, but return a host of players from its championship JV squad.

“The expectation stays the same — One Swing, One Hole, One Match at a time,” PHS coach Brandon Crawford said.

BUREAU VALLEY

Coach: Jack Gustafson (fifth year).

Returners: Cooper Balensiefen (Jr.), Tyler Birkey (So.), Payne Lind (So.), Blake Mattingly (So.), Bryson Smith (Sr.), Seth Spratt (Jr.), Parker Stier (Jr.).

Newcomers: Carter Balensiefen (Sr.), Landon Birdsley (Fr.), Justin Moon (Fr.), Landon Smith (Fr.), Eli Splitt (Fr.), Colin Stabler (Fr.)

Season outlook: The Storm return five letterwinners and stand 13 strong, including a new crop of five freshmen swingers and senior newcomer Carter Balensiefen. “We are young with only two seniors. We will be relying heavily on Bryson (Smith) this year for his leadership. A couple of the underclassmen will get their chance to see some varsity action this year,” Gustafson said. ... Smith was a 2019 sectional qualifier as a sophomore.

PRINCETON

Coach: Brandon Crawford (second season).

Key returners: Jarrett Carr (Jr.), Jaden Eggers (Jr.), Karter Patterson (Jr.), Josh Peterson (So.).

Other squad members: Ben Anderson (So.), Jack Bauer (Sr.), Joe Clarke (Jr.), Kaiden Coomer (Fr.), Michael Ellis (So.), Jayden Fulkerson (Fr.), Landen Koning (So.), Wyatt Koning (Fr.), Matt Lucas (Sr.), Brad McCall (Sr.), Kai Morris (Jr.), Cail Piper (So.).Tyson Phillips (So.), Jordan Reinhardt (Fr.), Luke Smith (Fr.).

Season outlook: While this year’s Tigers team is young and lacks varsity experience, and lost a very talented group of seniors last season, Crawford doesn’t consider this season a rebuild. “We play in a very tough conference. We have to remain patient and let the game come to us without trying to force a low number onto the card. I truly believe that if we trust the process and remain true to our match strategy, we will be very competitive,” Crawford said. ... Juniors Eggers, Patterson and Carr and the sophomore Peterson will be the new leaders of the links to carry on the Tiger tradition. ... Lucas came out last fall when there was no football and will be playing both sports this year. ... 2021 grad Adam Vigars is playing this year for Kansas Wesleyan.

ST. BEDE

Coach: Rich Cummings (30th season).

Key returners: Trenton Acuncius (Sr.), Logan Humpage (Sr.), Brendan Pillion (Jr.), Jake Delaney (Jr.), Logan Potthoff (So).

Key newcomers: Collin Harmon (So.), Luke Tunnell (So).

Other squad members: Brady Flanagan (Sr.), Henry Mertel (So), Ryan Slingsby (So.), Phillip Gray (Fr.), Kaden Nauman (Fr.), Abraham Wiesbrock (Fr.)

Season outlook: The Bruins lost 2020 BCR Golfer of the Year Nathan Potthoff, but still return plenty of talent and experience from last fall’s regional championship team. Humpage and Delaney turned in top four scores at the regional, while Pillion and Potthoff also competed. Pillion, who is coming off a broken arm in baseball, Delaney and Potthoff are expected to be the top three, while Humpage and Acuncius will be in the top five with the sixth spot up for grabs with Flanagan and Harmon in the mix. “With those three, it’s a good place to start and we’re hoping to get some good consistency from our seniors,” Cummings said. “I think we’ll be in good shape. It would be nice to repeat that regional title. It kind of depends where we get sent too and how it shakes out. Last year was a little smaller field because of COVID. We’ll see what happens. I think we have a good group. Our conference is a very competitive golf conference. We’d like to be in the upper half.”

HALL

Coach: Mason Kimberley (sixth season).

Key returners: Nick Arrate (Sr.), Rivers Jordan (Sr.), Grant Plym (Jr.), Josh Scheri (Jr).

Key newcomer: Landen Plym (Fr).

Other squad members: Geno Baraconi (So.), Jacob Diaz (Fr.), Anthony Fiocchi (So.), Luke Orlandi (So.), Tyler Orlandi (Sr.), Mickey Pienta (Jr.), Josh Scheri (Jr.),

Season outlook: The Red Devils have a very seasoned roster with Arrate, Jordan, Grant Plym and Scheri having a combined 10 seasons of varsity experience. “All this experience is going to be important in a year in which our team has only two home matches and are on the road for 16 other events,” Kimberley said. While Hall has plenty of experience, it also has a freshman, Landen Plym, who will be the Red Devils’ No. 1 golfer. Landen Plym and Grant Plym are cousins. “Landen Plym will make an immediate impact and can definitely hang with the area’s other top-tier players,” Kimberley said. ... Senior Tyler Orlandi, junior Mickey Pienta and sophomore Luke Orlandi are competing for the No. 6 spot. With experience and young talent, the Red Devils are looking for team success. “We want to be top five in our conference, which has 14 schools, and qualify for sectional as a team,” Kimberley said.