Weiser girls golf team loaded with talent

The Weiser High School varsity girls golf team returns three seniors and one junior for the 2019 season who have tons of tournament experience.

 The Weiser girls are the defending champions of the Snake River Valley Conference, a record of consecutive wins that stretches 16 years, and have been a perennial top-five finisher or better at state. 

 The girls and boys teams, along with 19-year head coach Jon Lundberg, are starting this season with the same goals they do every year – win the conference, district and qualify for state.

 The girls came close to winning a state title last year with a runner-up finish to Buhl at the 3A State Championships at Twin Lakes Village Golf Club in Rathdrum. The Buhl girls have won the 3A state title for the past two years.

 Four girls who made the trip to state last year are back with the stated goal of qualifying for state. Seniors Stella Beams and Sydnee Reyes are three-year varsity players for the Wolverines. Senior Sara Lundberg is a four-year varsity player and junior Faith Lee earned a spot on the varsity team last year.

 Coach Jon Lundberg said a couple of up-and-comers, Ciana Fuller and Eileen Froshiesar, also will be looking to make the varsity team. The best five girls and best five boys qualify weekly during the season to make the varsity squad.

 “They should be challenging this spring for varsity spots,” he said. “So we have a nice group of girls. The girls should do real well.”

 The boys also have a couple of experienced players coming back with Cade Thompson and Seth Thomas, a two-year varsity player, but overall the team is young. The team lost seniors Nathan Burris and Rein Laan to graduation. The boys did not qualify as a team to go to state last year after a fourth-place finish at the SRV District tournament.

 “We have our work cut out for us, but we’re going to work hard,” Lundberg said.

 The team has been practicing indoors due to inclement weather. Lundberg finds the space at the high school to set up hitting nets so players can practice full swings. In the main gym, players were hitting wedge shots on Thursday and others were working on their putting in the library. 

 This early in the season, all of the golfers who came out to make the team are practicing together and working on fundamentals. The advanced players will split off for specialized coaching on their games when they can get out on the golf course. Those who make the varsity teams have a short amount of time to get ready for the season opener. 

 The best 9-10 boys were able to get out on the Rolling Hills Golf Course on Friday to shoot a qualifier to see who made the roster for the varsity team. It was the first time the boys have been on their home course in Weiser this year. 

 There wasn’t much time for the varsity boys or girls to get in any practice at Rolling Hills, which was closed until Friday to dry out. The varsity boys start the season on Wednesday with a roadtrip to River Bend Golf Course near Homedale for an 18-hole tournament.

 In the SRV Conference, Lundberg said the boys teams from Fruitland and Homedale are always tough and will return some top golfers. The Trojans will be led by Daniel Uranga, their star boys player. Fruitland also will undoubtedly field a solid team, with all-around athlete Jake O’Neil returning for his senior season.

 The varsity girls start their season when they host a nine-hole tournament at Rolling Hills on March 20. 

 SRV Conference action will begin on April 3 for both varsity boys and girls at a tournament hosted by Fruitland at Scotch Pines Golf Course in Payette.

 Lundberg will be assisted this year in coaching the golf teams by Monty Hurd, Larry Lee and Mike Ryan.