Mehlville boys ready to tee off for 2003

By JEFF STAHLHUT

For the Call

Youth will be served this season for the Mehlville Senior High School boys’ golf team, as Head Coach Gary Pearson does not have a single senior on the squad.

Pearson, in his fourth year as coach of the Panthers, is optimistic about the team despite its youth. “Basically, we have all but a couple of guys back from last year,” he told the Call. “I expect this team to compete this year and be around .500 -Êand the kids also expect to succeed.”

Among the top players on the team will be sophomore Matt Thomas, who went to state last year as a freshman. “He’s a good player,” Pearson noted. “His play is making the kids around him a lot better, and they are having to really step it up and work harder.”

Thomas, according to his coach, is effective all over the course. “He knows how to hit most shots,” Pearson said. “In that sense – with his ability and success – he can be a leader for us.”

Joining Thomas as a prominent Panther will be junior Marty Benoist. Benoist is in his third year on the varsity squad and will also be in the starting lineup. “We’ll look to him to be one of the top guys,” Pearson said. “He, Thomas and Adam Pyke will be our three workhorses.”

Pyke, also a junior, has shown some improvement, too. “He’s really made a lot of progress,” noted Pearson. “All of the kids have thanks to the work they do in the summer. I don’t have to tell them to do much, because they are a pretty good bunch of kids and they’re all working hard.”

That hard work should pay off, and Pearson believes the depth of the Panthers will help, too. This year, in a rare situation at Mehlville, there are more than eight kids on the team to fill eight spots. “We finally have more than eight kids this year, which will create some competition to get and stay in the lineup,” Pearson said. “They will have to work to earn and keep a spot.”

The scoring system creates a scenario where eight golfers compete but only six scores count. Having more than eight players on a team then creates the competition that coaches long for to keep kids sharp.

The Panthers open the season Monday, March 31, when they will square off with the Parkway West Longhorns at 3:30 p.m.

The teams will play at Mehlville’s home course -ÊQuail Creek – at 6022 Wells Road.