NHS boys golf starting year strong

The 2022 Niwot High School boys golf season did not end the way Coach Ed Weaver, or his Cougars expected, but chalk it up to lessons learned and experience gained. Now it’s time to tee it up for a new season.

The golf season started this week at a furious pace with team tryouts and qualifying rounds Monday and Tuesday, and the first league play Thursday in Loveland with a varsity event at Mariana Butte and junior varsity play at Cattail Creek.

For Emmett Shell, his senior season will be an opportunity to showcase the talent that makes him one of the top golfers in the state, and to erase the disappointment of missing last year’s high school state tournament.

On a cold and miserable day at last year’s regional tournament, Shell missed the final qualifying spot for state by coming up short in a five-player shootout. Despite the finish, Shell had the team’s lowest stroke average a year ago and Weaver looks to him to be the team’s leader again this season.

“I’m challenging him and I’ve had conversations with him about taking a leadership role and being an example for the other players,” Weaver said. “He’s been calling the other kids and having them play with him. That’s the key because with golf you’ve got to get in what I call ‘reps.’ You’ve got to get reps in and that comes from playing eighteen holes as often as you can. You can’t play into golf shape during the season. That’s too late. You’ve got to be playing all the time.”

Shell has used the offseason to strengthen his game, playing in multiple tournaments in 2023, including the Optimist International Junior Golf Tournament this past week in Florida.

“Tournament play is extremely important because you’re held to a higher standard,” Weaver explained. “When you’re just playing with your buddies, it’s easy to just pick it (the ball) up rather than putting it out. I won’t allow that. I don’t care if it takes you five putts, it’s got to go in. Hit the bottom of the cup!”

One bright spot from last season was the lone qualifier for state, freshman Jackson Sessa. Finishing sixteenth at the regional tournament, Sessa became just one of seven freshmen to earn a spot in the 85-player state finals.

“That was a great experience for him,” Weaver said. “He hadn’t played many tournaments and you just can’t replace that. He’s been playing more tournaments this summer. So have all of my guys. They’ve been playing a lot of golf this summer, which is exactly what it takes to be competitive in high school golf.”

Along with Shell and Sessa, Weaver is looking to other key returnees from last year’s varsity roster, including senior Brighton Langenegger, juniors Drew Stapp and Devin Farahani and sophomore Sawyer Bennett. The coach is hoping to get tournament experience for seven or eight of the top players.

“At varsity invitationals, I can take whoever I want. I’m not going to always take just my top four to every invitational because I want to give more of them tournament experience. We have a lot of depth on the team. I think we should be pretty good,” Weaver predicted.