Tigers prepping for another solid year on the links

LAKEVIEW — Despite cold temperatures and a bit of wind on the course, the Ephrata Tigers golf team is gearing up for the season and prepping for its first meet Friday against the Moses Lake Mavericks, Ephrata Golf Coach Dan Molitor said Tuesday.  

“We had our first day of qualifying (Monday) and today’s the second day,” he said during the Tuesday interview. “So, we’ll place our top eight to play against Moses Lake on Friday, and then out of the top I’m taking two teams down to an invite on Monday, so I’m going to be taking the top five.”  

The focus right now is knocking the rust off of skills the 10 returning players have and getting fundamentals down for the six other players who are either new or have less experience, Molitor said. With a squad of 16, the roster is deep enough to make sure Ephrata is represented well throughout the season.  

Of the returning ten players, Molitor said Caiden Webber, Caleb Miller and Cody Ogle are doing well and bring a lot of experience to the team.  

“Caden has really taken off; he played a lot of junior golf,” the coach said. “And then Caleb, ... he’s been playing a lot of golf. It’s early in the season to know where he’s at. Cody, it’s the same way; he’s just a good athlete, so he played basketball this year, picked it back up. (They’re just) all-around good athletes, so I expect a little bit of something out of all three of them.”  

Recent windy conditions and cooler weather aren’t a problem, the coach said. As a player, he’s got a great deal of experience with adverse wind conditions and he’s been working with the players to help them identify how the wind can help them on the course rather than overwhelm them.  

“I grew up here, so I love the wind. Every tournament I played well, it was in the wind,” he said. “So, we work on sliding the ball down, being very creative around the greens, because there’s so many options with the wind helping you and hurting you. But, I think it really helps you, because it’s ... going to tell you where your ball is going to end up.”  

Molitor said he and the team are looking forward to their Friday meet with Moses Lake. The team had eight straight first-place finishes at the start of the season, and with ten returning players, the team is looking solid again.  

The Ephrata Tigers will face the Moses Lake Mavericks this Friday starting at noon at the Lakeview Golf & Country Club in Lakeview, between Ephrata and Soap Lake.  

    From left: Andrew Jacobson, Wyatt Hope, Cody Ogle and Jett Julian work on their swings at the driving range at the Lakeview Golf & Country Club in Lakeview where the Tigers hold their golf practices.