“If we shoot under 60 three times in a row,” said senior golfer Kyle Branham, “The coach will get us a golf bag.” Branham, the most experienced golfer on the team, was on his way to par.
On the back nine of Woody Ridge Golf Course, nine players from Plymouth-Shiloh high school were getting practice. Plymouth golf coach Doug Hopkins was optimistic in his fourth year coaching. “I’ve had as few as four and as many as seven players on the golf team. This year, it’s looking like a team of ten.”
Randall Porter had Hopkins as a sixth grade teacher, and said he was the first mentor prompting him to pick up the clubs. “No one in the family golfs,” Porter said. Porter is a junior, and golfing the first practice with first year sophomore Ryan Stumbo. “He gives us hints,” Porter stated about the coach. “He sees how we’re doing and tells us how we’re doing.”
Plymouth competes as part of the Firelands Conference. “We have a lot of learners who first pick up the clubs,” Coach Hopkins said, “But with five returning golfers, I am hopeful for a strong team. Our message and goal is to improve.”
