Swing, Swing, Swing!

When you think about high school sports, football, basketball and track always seem to come to mind. But this week, The Echo has uncovered one of Urbana High School’s less-known athetic programs: the Golf Team. Coached by Chad McFarland, the golfers have their season from mid-August through mid-October.

The 2009 season has brought many improvements from last year. “All of the returning players have lowered their average scores from last year,” Coach McFarland said. “This means we’re moving in the right direction.”

A major change also occured on the team: this year, Phonesavanh Soutchay, sophomore, joined the team, making her the only girl. “It took a lot of courage on her part to play golf with the boys, but her perseverence will make it easier for more girls to come out for golf next year,” McFarland said.

Austin Zarbuck, senior, has enjoyed his experience on the golf team. “I’m definitely going to miss the golf team because it has been a lot of fun throughout high school,” he said.

Zarbuck and the rest of the Varsity golf team qualified to compete in the Sectional competition on October 12, 2009. “…We have one of the toughest sectionals in the state, because out of the last couple years, the state champ has come from our regional,” Zarbuck said. “We still are hoping for a good showing, and I know that us seniors want to finish our career on a high note.”

As the golf season draws to a close, Coach McFarland encourages prospective golfers to seriously consider trying out next year. “Next years team will be young and there is plenty of room for first year players to get some serious playing time,” he said. “Even if a player has had limited golfing experience, in two years of high school golf, I can have them competing at a high level.”

Good luck to the golf team at Sectionals! Hopefully, they’ll be making an appearence at the State Championship.