by Becky Mudd- Associate Director It’s a Tuesday morning in the beautiful Colorado fall, yet it still feels like summer. Approximately 13 schools each with anywhere from a couple players to large teams all converge on a golf course at the crack of dawn (yes, ON a school day!) and head out all over the 18 different tee boxes to begin the match. For the next five hours the small groups circle the course, playing a game that they love. Spectators are scarce (until Regionals and State), and walk the course with their player, or ride a cart if the course will allow (and the fan pays a cart fee, which I have found to be a bit more than the $7 admission to a football game). When the match is over, scores are totaled and the teams head out—usually to a late lunch, then back to school to end the day. Over the past 25 years I have coached multiple team sports, so learning about an individual sport has been fascinating and enlightening. Some of the sights are familiar, but some are completely unlike anything you would see in a team sport. I have watched with a “coach’s eye,” seeing what we all can take away from the golf course. Golf is no different than other high school sports in the area that there are high school coaches who love teaching and coaching high school athletes. (Shout out to those that I have personally seen working directly with these athletes: Kevin Volz, Dave Vahling, and Jason Preeo.) Some of these coaches are teachers, some are golf professionals, and some of them work in other professions~ but all of them give so much more to high school athletes than the pay reflects. At one match a coach was getting after his athlete to remember that “every shot matters”. At regionals I was within earshot to hear a coach give his “pre-game” speech to the athletes to focus, do their best, and count it up at the end. REMINDER 1: Time and time again I have seen that coaches want the best for and from their athletes, no matter what sport they coach. Five Coaching Reminders from the Course Golfer Westin Pals, photo courtesy of Kevin Volz