The Palisade Boys Golf Team took Tiara Golf Course by storm this past Monday, August 28th, giving each swing, chip, and putt their very all. The sun was shining and the air was fresh, making it a perfect day for golf. The tournament was hosted by the Central High School Warriors and included 16 other competing teams. Our Bulldogs placed 12th out of the teams with an overall score of 266. The competition for spots in this tournament was hot, with the players having to compete in a “sudden death” type of round on Friday, August 25. The players who qualified for this tournament were Ian Allen, Maddox Caster, Taylor Cowdrey, Wyatt Black, and Jackson Martin. The boys and girls golf coach, Jan Norell, has a mission to always bring as many players to tournaments as possible, just so the whole team gets the experience of a varsity tournament. Norell was able to bring three extras whose scores would not count in the tournament but would still be logged. These players included Landon Beville, Scott Lambert, and Brady Fenton.

This tournament was a rough one for our Bulldogs, but a great learning experience in the challenging game of golf. “Golf is simply a not-consistent range of good days and very, very bad days.” Says sophomore Jackson Martin. “This tournament was one of those off-days. There’s not much else to it.” Our highest placing Bulldog was senior Ian Allen placing 21st overall and shooting an 83. Allen has been playing golf competitively for over 4 years and is his main sport. “The tournament was pretty good, There were definitely some areas that we could improve on, but overall we had a lot of good things going on, especially with the younger and newer players,” Allen says. One very important thing to the Palisade High School golf department as well as a lot of the other sports is the concept of “highs and lows.” After each round of golf, or in other cases games or practices, players will tell their coach and team one good thing about their game, and one thing they wish to improve on for next time. This helps our players reflect on what needs to be worked on in further practices but also allows them to highlight and celebrate what they feel confident in. “My high was my putting, and my low came to wedge shots. I struggled to get on the green with a lot of my chips.” Says Allen. The boys’ season is quickly approaching its end, with roughly two weeks left. Good luck in these final tournaments, and go Bulldogs!