With one shot, Royal High School golfer improves over last year

ROYAL CITY - Royal High golf coach Pete Christensen has a veteran boys golf team this year, and he was looking for improvement over last year as the season started.

Clifford Lester took the coach to heart on Monday of last week, March 17. Or he had some help from old St. Pat. He subdued hole No. 7 at the Royal Golf Course with a 190-yard tee shot that went straight as an arrow to the hole.

"We did have an exciting time at practice on St. Patrick's Day" Christensen said. "The luck of the Irish was with Clifford Lester."

Lester hit a driving 4-iron shot into a 25 MPH crossing head wind. It cut right through the wind.

"Awesome job Clifford," Christensen said. "There are many golfers who play this game all their lives who don't get the pleasure of saying they hit a hole in one."

Other than Lester's ace, practice on the 17th was a cold, windy proposition. But it was necessary if the Knights are to reach the lofty heights Christensen sees. Though young, they finished on the upswing last year.

"This team this will be a continuation of the improvements that were made last year," Christensen said. "We lost only one golfer to graduation for the boys, and one girl took a different path this year. It will be fun and interesting to see the maturity level of the players with another year of competitive experience and practice."

According to Christensen, the girls are a little raw regarding skill level, but they are all athletic. There are four girls, and all of them are ready and willing to learn, Christensen said.

"Our only returner is Carley Smith, who has worked hard on her game and shows the growth that experience brings," Christensen said.

All of the top golfers from last year are back for the boys team. As the season progresses, Christensen is hoping to see their consistency improve and their scores reflect the type of golfer they are capable of being.

So far, the boys and the girls have participated in the Othello Invitational. The girls got an absolutely beautiful day and did relatively well.

"We had had only a few practices, and conditions are always a bit challenging this time of year," Christensen said. "It was the first time many of them had competed in an organized match. There were plenty of nerves to go around and a fair amount of doubt as they warmed up. There weren't any records set, but they were able to see that the talent level for most of the competitors was nothing to be fearful of."

The boys played the next day in wind, rain and cold. They finished eight strokes out of first place, which raised expectations for the rest of the campaign.

"Overall they played quite well," Christensen said. "But each player had a couple of holes that beat them down."