Just two members of last spring's district boys golf lineup are back at Blair High School this year.
Multiple-time state qualifier Easton Chaffee graduated alongside Landen Oppliger and Luke Valasek, but seniors Connor Wayman and Tyler Lantry return.
Who's likely to join them in coach Ross Udey's varsity lineup?
“I think Bode would be, definitely, a solid choice,” Wayman said Saturday. “Just watching him swing his club, that is the fastest swing I think I've ever seen.”
Nebraska football walk-on Bode Soukup, BHS' quarterback, joins the golf team after three seasons competing in track and field.
“From hearing what his scores have been, I'm looking forward to that,” Wayman said. “And, hopefully, a couple of the underclassmen can come up and join the varsity.”
Letter winners Rylan Blattert, Degan Dresden and Aaron Hinman are back with Lantry and he, too. Udey named Justin Bird, Jace Lantry and Nolan Wolfe as potential contributors this season as well.
Tyler Lantry, meanwhile, has worked to solidify his own position during his final season. He's worked on his game at Blair Training Center, where they have a simulator — a virtual experience, which allows for full swings off of a tee all the way down to putts.
“I've been using that quite a bit, and I feel like I've improved pretty greatly from last year,” the senior said.
Simulators don't quite equate to actual golf outside, but they do provide meaningful data to those who play.
“You get your exact measurements,” Lantry said. “You get the degrees of every part of your swing.”
He hopes the work leads to his goals.
“Just do good and break my best score from last year,” the Bear said.
Wayman has the same idea about his swan song.
“I'm looking forward to just the final year,” he said. “I've done three years up to this point, so I'm hoping to cap it off with my best score.”
The BHS team doesn't look like last year's without Chaffee leading the way, but the Bears are hoping to deliver strong results during Coach Udey's 19th season.
“We're a little bare-bones, but we're going to make it work,” Lantry said. “We're going to do the best that we can.”
Blair's first dual competition is April 2 at Elkhorn Valley Golf Course north of Hooper. Its first tournament is April 8 at Ashland Country Club.
