With only two golfers – including the sole state qualifier – coming back from a season ago, Platte County is looking at some younger faces to build on this spring.
Platte County senior Parker Amos finished in 54th place in the 2022 Class 4 State Golf Tournament. Jackson Gabbert is also a senior varsity returner, but the Pirates had 20 athletes show up to try and make the team.
“We were very pleased with our turnout for tryouts,” Platte County head golf coach Trevor Short said. “The last few years we were able to keep all our players that tried out because of the numbers. We lost three of our varsity starters from last season and will be preparing a new batch of players to fill their spots. We have seen a lot of great things from our returning players as well as our new members.”
Platte County will be looking to get younger as there are nine sophomores and six freshmen who tried out, with only three upperclassmen. With Amos and Gabbert being the only seniors, junior Dawsen Mizell be the sole golfer in his class.
“Typically, we will have a few young players and a few new players come out but this season we have 11 new faces on the team. We are excited to see what they can offer the team and the enthusiasm for golf that these players are beginning to bring to the table,” Short said.
With so many new faces, the lineup can shift throughout the season. Platte County is planning to use every day as an opportunity to get better and do everything to peak at the end of the season.
“Consistency in our own game and peaking at the right time of the year, we need to be as consistent as possible and produce quality scores on a regular basis. If we can do that and start peaking at the right time, we have a good chance of doing well this season,” Short said.