Westlake, Anderson, and… Bowie? While Westlake and Anderson were expected to be heavy hitters during the golf season; Bowie was an afterthought by many, but with the fall season over and the spring season coming up Bowie is looking to compete with the top dogs on the golfing scene.

One reason for Bowie’s success is the new abundance of great golfers who are freshman and sophomores.

One of these new stars is freshman Michael Vienneau who has been playing golf his entire life.

“I started playing golf since I had plastic clubs, probably five years old,” Vienneau said. “My dad started signing me up for tournaments when I was eight and I started playing in them [tournaments] more consistently when I was 11.”

Although the team has utilized new freshmen and sophomores, the loss of senior leaders has made the young players step up even more.

“It’s always tough to lose seniors, especially the leaders that we have, but I knew Steven Noack was going back and I knew he’d be a good leader this year,” coach Karl Lauer said. “We also have some good young golfers.”

Like other sports, golfers have a routine before tournaments to prepare themselves accordingly for the following event.

“I prepare for tournaments by going to the range the day before,” Vienneau said. “Depending on the course, I may even lookup the yardages of each hole beforehand, so I know what to look for when I play.”

Because Vienneau is a freshman he had no idea how he’d stack up against the other golfers, but Vienneau had confidence he’d do well

“When I heard about the golf team I didn’t think about tryouts too heavily, I knew I was a good player I just had to show my game off for a few practices and I knew that I would likely make the team,” Vienneau said.

Vienneau has high hopes for the spring season due to the success of the team during the fall season.

“I think expectations were exceeded as a team. We didn’t come away with any wins, however, we did finish runner-up several times and we had some great individual performances from all members of varsity and JV,” Vienneau said. “With the spring season coming up I believe we can compete with the best of the best.”

Along with the boy’s golf team, the girl’s team has also done great as junior Lola Cantu placed at the girl’s last tournament

“I started playing about a year and a half ago,” Cantu said. “I was first on the team last year and started playing more since then.”

Cantu who has played in tournaments since last year has started to create a practice routine before tournaments

“Before tournaments, I like to set a game plan for myself and tell myself to keep a positive mentality,” Cantu said.

Like the boy’s team, the girls have high hopes for their spring season.

“I can’t wait for the spring season. I think we are going to surprise a lot of people,” Cantu said.