When your high school golf team is mostly made up of freshmen, it’s probably a rebuilding year.
The team at Wesley Chapel High School had a couple of players from the golf team graduate last year, and even lost some talent to other sports this season. Because of that, Coach Mike Rogers was expecting his team to learn from this year and build up experience for the future.
Instead, his golfers earned a 6-4 record in September and have already eclipsed last year’s win total of four victories.
“It’s been quite refreshing to see how we’ve come through,” Rogers said. “To beat some of the teams we’ve beaten, I’ve been pretty impressed.”
Wesley Chapel opened the season with a victory over Wiregrass Ranch, a team that beat them in 2012. Rogers said they even had respectable showings in losses to perennial powerhouses Plant and Jesuit.
Having a lot of young players to go along with a few sophomores and upperclassmen might be a frustrating challenge for some coaches, but Rogers enjoys it. Now in his third year coaching boys golf, he sees a team with a lot of talent and athleticism, and he appreciates the individual attitudes and personalities on it.
And those players are responding with good play on the courses — especially some of the freshmen. In fact, Rogers said his top athlete, Tyler Rover, is one of his many players who are new to the high school sport experience.
“He’s my No. 1 golfer at this moment,” Rogers said of the freshman. “He’s just been outstanding for his first year in high school golf.”
While Rover is new to the high school format (he’s never played golf as a team competition before), he’s no stranger to the sport itself: He’s been playing in amateur golf tournaments since he was 9. And his enthusiasm runs in the family. His father, Randy, is a PGA Club Pro at the Avila Golf & Country Club in Tampa. He also volunteers with his son’s golf team and offers tips and advice to both the newer and experienced golfers.
With his father and a new coach guiding him in high school, Tyler has learned to appreciate having a team component to an individual sport.
“I think it’s definitely a little relieving since you have a few teammates behind you to pick you up if you’re down,” he said. “You go up and play the best you can for each shot, and if your friends play well, it’s even better.”
Tyler explained that golf can be mentally and physically draining — that’s what he enjoys about the sport — so it’s a positive experience to participate with other students and have a coach help him.
Even though the team is still working its way through the season (with individual competitions at the district, regional and state levels to follow), Tyler said he’s already seen benefits from working with Rogers.
“Coach Rogers has definitely given us lots of opportunities,” he said. “I think it’s good to get some different knowledge about my game.”
For his part, Rogers believes that his team’s success lies mostly with the ones who are making the tough shots.
“They’ve put a lot of work and time and effort into it,” Rogers said. “I don’t think it’s necessarily anything I’ve done. I think it’s what they’ve put into it, and some good old-fashioned talent as well.”
Whoever deserves the credit for the team’s success, both the players and coaches know that the team’s prospects look even better down the road, as freshmen turn into experienced upperclassmen. Rogers is excited to see the team grow together, and Rover knows they have a bright future as well.
“That’s what we’ve been talking about all year,” he said. “If we get our new players to keep improving and learning new things, we’ll definitely be good for the next three years.”
