Hatters' Golfers Hope to Be Up to Par

2011 Golf Schedule

After finishing with a 13-3-2 record last season, the boys golf team is looking to compete again this season despite losing four key starters due to graduation. 

“It is always that tough when you lose that many to graduation,” said head coach Mike Harmon. “However, two of our top players are coming back. That helps a lot. It is going to be tough to replace the talent we had last year. Every year we seem to have a couple kids come out of nowhere and help.”

Sophomore Tom Fisher and junior Ryan Kelly are two players to keep an eye on. Both had huge roles in last season's success, Harmon said.

“I think Ryan and Tom are going to have a really good year,” said Harmon. “I am interested who is going to step up and be with them.”

A lot of the players this season will be moving up from playing junior varsity a season prior. Despite the team being young, Harmon doesn’t worry that lack of experience will hurt the team.

“Some people see it is as rebuilding, but I see it more of a chance for us to get stronger," said Harmon. "We had a run when we were sending a kid to states every year for four or five years. I think that is possible in another year or two ... I know my kids are playing a lot during the summer to help improve their game.”

The official beginning of competitive high school golf gets underway Monday with a match against Quakertown. The earlier part of the schedule will be a good opportunity for the Hatters to gain experience before a tough stretch of matches that start in September. 

“Our goal is to always be on the top of our league,” said Harmon. “I think we really do have a chance of doing that. I think we can have a good year. It is just whether the kids can believe it.”

North Penn and Central Bucks East are key opponents the Hatters have to face en route to a league title. Those two teams will post a great challenge for a young Hatters team.

“My outlook is to gain experience with these tough matches,” said Harmon. “I want to get back to where we were a couple of years ago.”

Gaining experience will become easier with a rule change that will only help the young Hatter team. Coaches can now talk to their players during the match.

“Before we weren’t allowed to talk to kids during the match. We can now say something in between holes," Harmon said. "If we see a kid struggling a little bit or frustrated, we can talk to them to calm them down. I think that is going to be a huge boost for our program.”