By John Rittenhouse
Proven talent and solid rosters have Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth golf coach Tim Lange feeling optimistic about the 2001 campaign.
Lange, who is heading the program for the second straight year, likes what he sees on both sides of the ledger.
With 14 boys, including three letter winners and a pair of section qualifiers from the 2000 season back with the team, the Patriot coach expects improved team play.
Ten athletes, including three returning letter winners, have been preparing for the season on the girls' side of the roster.
With a nice blend of experience and potential, both H-BC-E teams could surprise some opponents this spring.
"What is nice about both teams is we're dealing with younger kids who will be around for a while," Lange said. "There are seven seniors overall, but most of the these kids are freshmen and sophomores."
Lange feels especially good about H-BC-E's boys' chances this season.
The Patriots are coming off a 3-8 2000 season that didn’t end with a seventh-place finish as a team during the Sub-Section 10 Tournament in late May.
For the first time in program history, two boys advanced to the Section 3A Tournament individually last spring.
"'I'm really excited about this group of boys," Lange said. "We've got some good scorers coming back, and we've got depth. I think we definitely can improve over last year’s 3-8 season."
H-BC-E’s 14-player boys' roster consists of two seniors, six sophomores and six freshmen.
Missing from the mix are Nic Walraven, Nick Wassenaar and Matt Feucht, who were the senior members of the 2000 team.
Walraven and Wassenaar lettered for the Patriots last season and were members of H-BC-E's sub-section squad. Feucht missed most of the campaign due to injury.
Three returning letter winners, including two section qualifiers, are expected to form the nucleus of the 2001 squad.
Senior Dean Moss and sophomore Blake Brommer are the players with section exposure.
Moss tied for third individual qualifying position at the sub-section tournament as a junior and went on to shoot a 96 at the section meet.
Brommer was involved in a deadlock for the fifth and final qualifying spot for the section tournament during sub-section play. He won a one-hole playoff to advance to the section event, where he shot a 99.
Rounding out the returning letter winners from 2000 is freshman Tom Janssen. Janssen turned in his team's third lowest score during the sub-section meet.
Seven more Patriots senior Josh Bosch, were members of the program last season and are back in the ranks.
Sophomores Clint Roozenboom, Dustin Bonnema and Kyle Sammons return to the team, as do freshmen Adam Lange, Jared Herman, Tyler Elbers and Jordan Scott.
Four first-year players cap the roster.
Senior Tom Beener, sophomores Aaron Blank and Brant Deutsch, and freshman Ryan Ranschau round out the list.
"Moss should give us some good rounds this year, along with Tom (Janssen) and Blake (Brommer). Then we have guys like Clint (Roozenboom), Jordan (Scott), Kyle (Sammons) and Adam (Lange) who show good potential. I haven't had the chance to take a good look at the guys like Brant Deutsch, Tom Beener and Ryan Ranschau, but they seem to have solid swings. Once we get outside and are able to practice, we should be OK," Lange offered.
The Patriot girls will not be as experienced as the boys this spring, but their coach is optimistic about the team.
H-BC-E's 10-player roster consists of three seniors, one junior, three sophomores, one freshman and two eighth-graders. However, seven of the 11 athletes are first-year performers.
Like the boys, H-BC-E's girls lost three seniors to graduation from a team that went 1-12 and placed seventh in the sub-section meet last spring.
Becky Mulder and Kristy DeBoer were seniors who produced the team’s third and fourth lowest scores respectively during last year’s sub-section competition.
Valerie Roozenboom was a senior who didn't complete the season with the team.
The good news is three younger Patriots are returning as letter winners, which is something that could help the program now and in the future.
"We have a lot of potential," Lange said. "The returning ninth- and 10th-graders show a lot of promise. They really picked up their games at the end of last season, and I think they'll come around even more this year."
Sophomores Melissa Fagerness and Jessica Martens and freshman Jessica Wassenaar are H-BC-E's returning letter winners.
Martens and Fagerness turned in the team's No. 1 and No. 2 lowest scores during the sub-section event.
Wassenaar also was a member of the sub-section team.
With the exception of senior Kari Jansma, who is a veteran member of the program, the balance of the roster is made up of first-time golfers.
Seniors Jamie Arp and Rachael DeHaan and junior Becky Broesder top the list.
Sophomore Jody Rentschler, and eighth-graders Marla Groen and Ashley Buck cap the roster.
Lange plans to field varsity and B squad teams for each meet this season. The returning letter winners are the leading candidates to play varsity golf. The remaining varsity positions are up for grabs.
"We have some girls who show a lot of promise, and there is some scoring potential here. Hopefully, we can get the new gals to grow to love the game. I think they will come around in their own time," Lange concluded.