Having a large roster – the 2021 Berthoud High School (BHS) boys golf team has fully 20 players out this fall – can be both a blessing and a curse.

On the one hand, having broad interest in the sport is great for both the present and the future but, on the other hand, it can make it tricky for the coaching staff to select which players will play in which events.

For the BHS team, Head Coach David Hunn stacked the schedule with 19 events between the varsity and JV levels, assuring that all of his players will get ample opportunity to play competitive golf on a regular basis over the next two-plus months.

To begin the season, the Spartans took to the links on Monday at Highland Hills in Greeley and then traveled north to the Eaton Country Club for a league meet on Tuesday. Seven different players teed it up between the two events, turning in a solid showing but ones which Hunn said there exists be ample room for improvement.

“We played seven different guys in the two days, I wanted to get several of them to get their feet wet and get used to knowing this is high school golf,” Hunn said. David Sarmiento and Landon Kuntz played in both events with Sarmiento carding a 94 at Highland Hills and an 85 at Eaton while Kuntz turned in scores of 88 and 89 on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

At Eaton for the league opener, Hunn sent his our his five most experienced players as Christian Foxworth, Lochlan McNair and Coyle Hagerty joined Sarmiento and Kuntz. Foxworth turned in the best score of the day, shooting an 84 while Hagerty carded an 85 and McNair a 91. With the top three individual scores summed for the team score, the Spartans placed sixth in the event.

“Coming in sixth today, only a few strokes out of fourth, was fine but to be particular I think all of our guys gave away a lot of strokes in the short game, short game is where we need to improve,” Hunn said. “I think we would have had four guys in the 70s if our short game was a little sharper, so that’s what our focus will be for the next week, really dialing that in and sharpening out our putting.”

Hunn remarked that while the results from the first two events were solid, he sees a lot of room for improvement and said he believes the results from Eaton from the top-five players will only improve as the weeks progress, pointing to the strides to be made both in short game and on the putting greens.

“We need to learn to understand how a certain lie is going to play with your golf ball, understand if that’s a fly or lie or a thick lie that’s not going to go as far and that will come with experience,” the coach explained. “We’re still working on mechanics with some of the guys and when we dial those in and fix our short games, I think we’ll be set, this will be probably our worst round of the year.”

While Foxworth, who was Berthoud’s lone state qualifier last year as a sophomore was not disappointed in his team-best 84 at Eaton County Club, the team captain explained that he believes he can shoot significantly better. Said Foxworth, “On the first tee I was a little nervous, like anyone would be in the first tournament of the seasons, but being the number one player and a junior trying to lead the team and represent our school as the number one player, I think I put a little more pressure on myself. I really have to focus on playing my game rather than letting my emotions get the best of me, it’s just about focusing on my game.”

The Spartans will be back in action this Thursday when they will send eight players to compete at the Eagle Classic at the challenging Broadlands Course in Broomfield.