The 2016 golf season for Freedom has kicked off, and the team has shown off their improvement over the course of multiple matches. Mr. Tom Hickey, secondary computer applications teacher, has lead this team throughout each game with advice on how to better their swings.
The team consists of senior Levi Ditmore, juniors Ethan Lovy and Jessica Palakovich and sophomores Jonathan Grove, David Messenger and Austin McCoy.
Hickey has been playing the sport since he was 14 years old, but this is his first year coaching others as head coach. Freedom’s team, decreasing from nine players to six, has struggled in many aspects due to its loss of members. With the minimum amount of players needed to have a match being six, Hickey didn’t anticipate putting together a team to be such a challenge.
In order to compensate for the multitude of rookies in the sport, Hickey’s teaching strategy has included targeting the basics, many ideals of which focus on how the game itself works.
He has also mentioned his focus on the “rules of the game, course strategy, the basics of the short game and things that they can do on their own to improve their games.”
“I will try to support our players year around when the weather permits so they can continue to work on their games. As a coach, I can attend clinics, watch instructional videos, learn new drills and try to develop a feeder program so we can ensure the long-term success of the program,” Hickey mentioned on his beliefs of becoming a stronger coach for his team.
Hickey has encouraged any support or addition for the team and believes that, “golf is a great sport to learn at an early age so you can enjoy it for a lifetime.”
While the team may have had a tough start, Freedom is hopeful to have a successful season through the month of September. In starting matches against New Brighton, South Side and Central Valley, the team hustled to make their swings count, but was unable to hold off their contenders in the final scores of 317-211, 271-206 and 300-230 respectfully.
If the team is able to keep up their impressive patience, listening to their coach and intense watching and improving upon other skills, they will receive lower scores as a result.
With the season just beginning, the team still has time to grow and better understand the game to eventually grasp their own styles. As with any sport, going from an extremely strong senior team to a long list of new players, the concept of each game must be reinforced and accepted at each competition of the season.