Golfers compete in Torrington

Sonja Karp

NLJ Sports Editor

Three Dogies made the trip to a varsity-only golf meet in Torrington on Friday where they competed against seven 4A schools and six 3A schools. Since there were only three golfers, they didn’t have enough to post a team score.

“There was a lot of really talented competition there, so the pressure was pretty high, but the guys did a good job,” head coach Brad Troftgruben said. 

According to Troftgruben, Torrington’s golf course enjoys the status of being the No. 1- or No. 2-ranked course in the state, however, winter was a little rough on it this year. 

Troftgruben noted that conditions weren’t too bad, but the greens had just been aerated, which made for an unpredictable and bumpy short game for all golfers on the day.

Thatcher Troftgruben played his first spring game, and staying true to his No. 1 golfer status for the Dogies, he finished first for the team in a tie for 27th place with a score of 89 on the par 72 course.

“Thatcher played strong,” Troftgruben said. “The putting was a little rough though, so he had a stretch of about four holes where the short game and the bouncy greens kind of got to him, but he stuck through it and really hit the ball well aside from the greens.”

Kaden Hall, the No. 3 golfer for Newcastle, also competed for the first time and shot 103 to finish in 43rd, while freshman Troy Christensen (No. 5) golfed his second meet of his career and finished 57th with a score of 126. 

That score was just three shots higher than his finish in Sundance in the first meet of the season.

“Kaden started off rough and then hit his groove and then put it on cruise control, and he finished probably a little better than he was playing in the fall,” Troftgruben said. “Troy played well, but he did struggle on those tough greens. For a kid new to competitive golfing, those greens kind of got in his head, but he had a good attitude and he didn’t get frustrated.”

In addition to the greens, the course itself is challenging. According to Troftgruben, the front nine is wide open like the Newcastle course, and then the back nine is extremely tight with a lot of trees, so it’s like playing on two completely different courses. 

“The guys handled that pretty well. We talked about playing it safe off the tee, because if you get in those trees, you’re in jail,” Troftgruben explained. “I watched Thatcher hit some pretty good shaping shots around trees on the back nine. You can be in the fairway on that course and not have a clear shot at the greens, so you really have to shape it to get it in there. He is really the only one who has the ability to do that on the team.”

After only two competitions, the Dogies are facing the possibility of being out of luck for any more meets this spring. Unfortunately, the way the spring golf season goes makes it difficult for teams to line up weekly competitions, and Troftgruben noted that due to the closure of courses to high school competitions in the bigger towns, 4A schools are filling up 3A meets, leaving the smaller schools with nowhere to compete.  

“We are going to try to get in somewhere, but there is a chance that we are done for the season, which is really disappointing and discouraging,” Troftgruben said.