Transcript
joining us now in coach's corner, KWBG, going to chance to wrap up the Madrid golf season. Nick Pelger joining us, the Tigers. I tell you what, you talk about postseason golf and we're kind of going to work our way backward with how the season kind of ended and then work our way back to some of the highlights. But Nick, I guess when I look back at, we're going to start on the boys' side and we'll get to the girls. But when I look back at the sectional on the boys' side of things, I mean, obviously, we had some kids really, I think, getting there at the end of the season. I think Eli Peterson, number one, was one kid that was really starting to pull some good scores at the end of the year. I thought Zach Newell as well, Emerson Bridgewater. Taryn was also, I thought, firing some pretty nice scores here at the end of the year. This boys' program, I think, walking into that sectional coach, number one, I know they fired one of their best rounds ever for you, but number two, they were right in the mix in this. They, yes, thank you for having me. It's a good feeling. I mean, you never want to lose and you never want to not be one of those teams moving on at the end of the day. But I think it was a good eye-opening experience to see what we are capable of and what it takes to get there. And these boys, they've been golfing consistently for, I mean, the season's only about two months. But golf is one of those sports where you just have to keep consistently playing and you'll see those scores drop. And of course, there are other things you could do. But yeah, overall, I think it was good for the boys to see this and I think it's great momentum coming into this next year where I'm going to have three seniors that have kind of been with me since day one, so yeah, can't wait to see where I guess. Boy, you always try to find your way, kind of tiptoe your way about asking this question because I know Eli was right there, real opportunity to make his way to districts. Does that kind of fire you up for next season? Is that disappointment for a little bit? And then you're kind of fired up about the next year. What did he kind of talk to you about afterward? The one thing I was impressed with was he was not really a scoreboard watching. He knew that he was shooting low, but he didn't know exactly where he fell into place. And yeah, he was a stroke away and I broke the news to him and it was immediately like, oh, I could have played this whole better if I didn't overshoot my chip here like a two-pile and I get a bogey instead of double. He did all the replaying in his head. But again, it was kind of interesting. We had a few teams that were shooting right around us and then we had some teams that we'd be, but they had like a kid that was shooting where Eli was. And so I think one of those kids moved on and so that's kind of the frustrating part in me where I'm like, as a team, we finished better, but this kid individually, like he did, he shot really well. And yeah, I don't know, it's tough. I wish and they had a third individual that they could bring and see what would have happened there. Yeah, no question, no question. Overall, on the season, coach, I know obviously when you have, boy, you don't have a ton of sample time. Like you said, it's basically two months and you get the ups, the downs, the all the rounds basically, but it felt like that this group, like I know this doesn't always make the seniors feel great when I bring this up, but it feels like that with the core part of this group returning next year, it's kind of put up or shut up kind of time, isn't it, for them? This next year, I mean, we kind of talked to as like, what's great about these long golf trips where I get to take a van and it's just me and the kids they sit there and they, kids are bold, they'll talk about anything. They're talking about like things they want to do next year, how we're going to improve, how we want practice to look and they're basically like, you know what, let's take away some of the fun and just like going out there and play. Like we'll sit there, we'll do drills, like we'll do what needs to be done to get better. Each day and so they're like, you know, let's do what's practice rounds, let's have more drill days and I think they're really committed to what it takes to take their scores even lower. So, that's what you gotta do. Yeah, that's what you gotta do for sure. Girls side of the things, boy, Nick, I feel like if we could talk from, you know, two years ago to today from where the girls program was to where we are right now, there's gotta be a ton of smiles when you look at the improvement. What about the ladies this past season? What did they kind of tell you after their sectional meet and kind of take me back through what I thought was another good step forward this season? The biggest thing is I think we're, like we're still building. When I took over there were, there were zero returners. The tough part is now I have a grand total of six, which, you know, it's easy to be like, hey, there's a team, but there's with a small school and these girls are super active in what they do. They're doing everything. And so there are times where I lose kids, there are times where I lose them sometimes at practice, but the biggest thing I think is the fact that we're now seeing a, I don't know, a steady flow of girls coming out for Madrid golf, which is awesome. And my goal is to continue to build from wherever they're at. And like I'm talking to my AD, trying to get us to like get us to a driving range, big putting greens and everything so that we could get more of the fundamentals and swing technique down, especially for some of these beginners. Because again, when I, when I had three girls two years ago, they've never touched a club before and it was building up from there. And so I hope there are some girls coming up that have swung the club before, but I'm expecting the, not the bare minimum, I feel like that's terrible connotation, but I'm expecting to have to start from square one again and build up along with the girls that I've already have. So I'm hoping we'll be able to put more team scores again next year and keep building. Well, and something else I wanted to talk about too, and this is always an opinion, Nick, but when we get to the post-season, obviously we're playing 18 holes of golf. Is this something, do you see Madrid golf maybe kind of taking the change of, you know, we love the duels and we love the triangulars, but we might need to start finding ourselves where we're playing 18 holes of golf each day, just because that's what post-season is going to be like. Give me some thoughts on that. The good thing is my AD, Paul, he's big on just getting different meets to me. We added two 18-holeers, I believe, for not only the boys, but also the girls. One, we weren't able to make because we had other commitments, which is, again, frustrating, but coaching at a small school and in-coaching golf. But the opportunities are there, and I think, yes. The first 18 holes for these girls that have never done it before is definitely an eye-opener. And they will tell me how they're feeling, and yeah, there's no hiding their emotions.
No, it's a good thing. We were adding more, and hopefully, I mean, if we have three or four girls that join next year, we can start talking maybe girls, JV, and I'm hoping to get more meets for not only them, but also the boys. Yeah, I think opportunities are there, so. I would agree, I would agree. Nick, thank you so much for all the time this past season. Always appreciate the coaches' corners. We'll look forward to talking, Matt Ridgolf, with you coming up next spring. Thank you so much, it's been a pleasure. You bet, Nick Pelgrin, joining us. Matt Ridgolf here on Coaches Corner.
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