Erickson swings into sixth

Fast greens and a tough course in Wright kept the Saratoga Panthers from placing in the top three at state last weekend. Head coach Jared Mason is pretty happy with how the season went.

The boys may have not won a trophy, but the coach heard plenty of compliments on how considerate and polite the Saratoga team was.

“Coaches came up to me and said they enjoyed scoring the boys because they were so polite,” Mason said.

Guy Erickson finished in a three-way tie for sixth place and qualified for all-state, a goal that Mason had for Erickson at the beginning of the season.

Erickson golfed a 98 the first day and 93 the second for a total score of 191.

Cristian Soles shot 109 the first day and 115 the next, with Hazer Hinkle golfing 120 both days.

Torin Hedley golfed a 137 and 111. The team finished with a score of 903.

Mason was surprised by the Lyman team, one that he had not seen perform before state.

As predicted by Mason, Thermopolis took first, with Sundance taking second. Lyman took third and Lusk took fourth.

Big Horn took fifth place, with Saratoga getting the sixth place finish.

“If we had golfed an 800, we would have taken second place,” Mason said.

The Thermopolis team had a score of 752, with the top four players golfing 100 or under.

With Saratoga finishing in the “middle of the pack”, Mason is satisfied with how the team finished.

“The played their normal game. The course was tough,” Mason said.

With the spring play, the players compete for all-conference. Mason is not sure all the boys will return, but hopes to see the program continue.

The Saratoga Resort and Spa committed to four years of sponsoring the golf team and that commitment ends this spring.

Mason said the spring season is the building season and hopes to see more athletes compete. If they start in the spring, they have the summer to build up and they players are at their best in the fall.

“I really enjoyed the kids,” Mason said. “I think they had fun too. It’s not always about being all-state, it’s about having fun.”

Mason plans to continue to coach. “I had fun and I learned a lot,” Mason said. “We learned from each other.”