MITCHELL — After the graduation of No. 1 golfer Macon Larson, the Mitchell boys golf team has a few holes on its roster.
Thankfully for the Kernels, it returns four letterwinners from a year ago in Noah Larson, Lincoln Bates, Jackson Childs and Asher Dannenbring. Behind those four key contributors will be a host of Kernels to fill the remaining spots in tournaments, according to coach Ryker Kreutzfeldt.
“There’s a lot of guys that are right in there that’ll probably be kind of revolving at our five and six spot,” Kreutzfeldt said of the team’s depth. “If we can find two guys who can play consistently in that spot for us we’ll be pretty tough.”
Kreutzfeldt mentioned Marshall Widstrom, Brady Reiners, Dawson Adams and Sam Titze as four possible names to fill those final two spots. However, despite the uncertainty, Kreutzfeldt has seen improvement from his players heading into the season from both a mental and physical standpoint.
“We’ve seen guys be able to hit it further,” Kreutzfeldt said. “We’re making some smarter decisions… they’re becoming a little smarter.”
Some of the increase in skill and mental game has come with age for Mitchell, but the Kernels are still a relatively young team. Mitchell only has two seniors on the roster — Childs and Bates. Kreutzfeldt has seen Childs answer younger players’ questions on the driving range and putting green, as well as on the course, and become a mentor to some of the younger players on the team.
While Mitchell is still searching for someone to take over the five and six spots in his lineup every tournament, the Kernels got a boost on the coaching staff. Coming over from the girls team, Jeff Meyerink will be in his first year as an assistant coach for the boys squad, something Kreutzfeldt feels will be a big boost to the team.
“He brings a ton of golf knowledge. He knows as much as anybody about this game,” Kreutzfeldt said of Meyerink. “He gets the best out of his players. We saw that with how far he pushed (the Kernel girls) to another runner-up finish.
“I’m really excited to have him and it’s gonna be a big benefit for us.”
The season gets going for the Kernels on Monday, Aug. 15 in Brandon before heading to Willow Run Golf Course on Tuesday as part of a two-day season-opening tournament. After that, the team will have a tournament or two every week until the state championships, which take place right on Mitchell’s home course — Lakeview Golf Course — this year. That state tournament is less than two months away, taking place Oct. 3-4.
“Our outlook is high and the state tournament is in Mitchell this year,” Kreutzfeldt said. “We’re working towards that.”