CCHS golf team competes in back-to-back tournaments
By SEAN HANEY
Cove Leader-Press
Last Friday and Saturday, the Copperas Cove High School golf team competed in the Lampasas Fall invitational, and on Tuesday they participated in the Copperas Cove Fall Invitational. They produced great numbers on both matches.
The Copperas Cove Golf team is led by coach Cooper Carlton who is on his fourth year as head coach. Before being the head coach of the high school golf team, Carlton coached over at Copperas Cove Junior High for five years.
The golf team prepared for this tournament just like any other tournament they have played in this year, by just practicing. On one day of practice, they would work on their short game and after that they would practice hitting with every club. They would go through rotating stations, warm up with holes to try and simulate what it’ll be like at the tournament.
All the kids who participated in the past two tournaments fought really hard, and even though some of them felt under weather they still ended up posting best scores.
For the Lampasas Invitational, the Lady Dawgs golf team finished in second place.
They were anchored by sisters Ella and Allison Crawley who finished second and third, individually. The girls’ team are back-to-back district runner-ups and regional qualifiers.
The boys’ golf team was led by Coleton Sizemore, who finished 5th individually at the Lampasas Invitational. As a team, the boys shot the lowest tee score in the past couple of years, and they also set some personal records among them.
During the Copperas Cove Fall Invitational tournament hosted by Copperas Cove on Tuesday, the first boys team finished second overall, shooting one over par.
Coleton Sizemore, who also finished first individually, shot a 72. Jefferey Karpoff finished 72 overall. Alex Cazarez shot 79 and finished fourth overall, and the second boys’ team finished fourth. Noah Johnson may not have placed in the top five, but he certainly had a great day, as he shot a personal best of 98. This was their first varsity tournament of the year.
“The thing that makes this team competitive is how hard they work,” Carlton stated. “These kids played during the summer, play every day, played in junior tournaments during the summer, and take private lessons.”
But it’s not just how they play on the golf course; it’s how they handle themselves in the classroom as well that gives them the opportunity to be on the team.
“These kids take care of grades in classrooms, and I get positive feedback from teachers. It’s always great when the kids you coach can perform on the field and in their classes.”
This team made a big jump by adding two freshman players to their varsity boys’ team, “They have been really pushing and making everyone better,” Carlton added.
The next match on the golf teams’ schedule is Oct. 25, for the varsity boys’ team at Hutto.