After consecutive third-place finishes at the 3A State Tournament, Smackover’s girls golf team has high expectations for the 2020 season with Karli Willett, Brea Boyce and Mackenzie Preston all back to lead the charge.
“Our girls are all back from finishing third in the state last year, so I have high hopes for them,” Smackover coach Mike Poff said. “I have high expectations for our kids. I’ve just got to get them all out there and try to get to some sense of normalcy. I know that’s hard to do.”
Poff praised Willett, a senior, for her consistency on the course.
“She’s been playing for four years and she’s consistent,” Poff said. “Not long, but she tries to keep the ball in the middle of the course. She hits it down there and she stays consistent about what she’s doing. I think she has the potential to get down into the 80s. It’s just a matter of getting that consistency down, and that’s what we’re working on now. You can only do that by hitting more balls.”
Preston and Boyce are juniors who are multi-sport standouts.
“They also play softball and have good swings,” Poff said. “I think both of them can get to the 80s. For golf, you’ve got to get that swing. You have to have a swing that you can go to when the pressure is on. Whether or not it’s a draw, a fade or straight, it’s just got to be that swing you have when the pressure is on that you can make. We’re trying to find that. Once we find that, the game gets easier.
“Of course, you have to work on your short game because it can save you so much. Once we get that consistency and that swing that we can make every time, we’ll be in good shape.”
Trey Darden, a senior, returns to lead the Bucks.
“His game is better now than where he was when he finished last year,” Poff said. “He’s hitting the ball with a little bit more control. He’s understanding which shots to hit, which shots not to hit and how they can help him, especially around the green where you start talking about where you land your ball on your wedge shots depending on which wedge you hit. He’s coming along.”
The Bucks squared off against conference rival and defending 3A state champion Bismarck in their season-opening match, but they will be idle until later this month when they travel to Magnolia.
“It’s a little different,” Poff said. “With all of this going on, I’ve had a lot of kids out going on vacation now because they haven’t been able to get out, so I haven’t had my full team at practice yet. This year is going to be different because of the pandemic.”
Poff said his teams will work on several facets of the game before returning to action.
“We’ll just work on our game,” Poff said. “Magnolia’s golf course is tight with a lot of woods. It’s built for a guy who hits a draw, and I want a swing that fits all golf courses, so we’ll get out there and work on our stuff.
“We’ll know the distance of our clubs, our putting and chipping. We always start with a wedge and always finish with a wedge and hit some of the other clubs in between. Just day by day, we’ll work on a specific shot and then go out there and try to put that shot into play.”