ABOVE: Staff photo by Caleb Brinton Front Row left to right: Bardy Meyer, Jevin Garry, Logan Zimmer, Landon Zimmer, Avril Weins, Charlotte Berhow, Josie Moeller, Deacon Thompson. Back row left to right: Xander Connell, Gavin Kester, Tavin Janssen, Alison Steuber, Chloe Nowick, Dominic Klassen, Addyson Wiederhoeft.

GRANADA – The Granada-Huntley East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther Jaguars are ready to go with 10 new golfers joining the team and a new head coach taking the lead as the season sets to open.

With such a fresh roster, Jaguars head coach Samuel Kulseth focuses on player development, paying attention to the individual development of each golfer on the team.

“Each player is at a different level,” said Kulseth. “So individual development is the main focus [this season].”

Kulseth said the team’s main goal this year is to “simply improve as golfers. ” This goal is backed by the team motto, “Drive for success and putt for glory.”

Kulseth is new to the head coaching position this season, opting to step in and develop the program as much as he can in his first year.

“The old coach, Jim Utermarck, got a different job doing insurance, and he’s helped me out a lot with getting used to teaching in Truman. I’m also a teacher there,” said Kulseth. “It was my first year teaching in Truman as well. He said he’d pretty much do golf, but it was like, if you want to do it, you can go for it. He encouraged me to do it, and I said, Yeah, let’s do it. So, here I am, the coach, and I’ve always liked golf. Golf’s a very fun sport. Why golf is so amazing is that you can play it at a young age, and you can play it when you’re 80 years old. So, that’s one thing that’s really cool about golf – you’re teaching these kids a lifelong skill that they can always use. So, I like teaching in general, and coaching is a part of that, in my opinion. So, I figured, there’s a golf position, let’s do it.”

Looking over the schedule this season, Kulseth likes the team’s home course, Rose Lake, and is ready for the challenges that other courses will present for his young roster but one comes to mind that may be the most challenging.

“The St. James course, and that course is hard,” said Kulseth. “I grew up in the St. James area, so I golfed that course plenty of times. So, I think the St. James course is going to be the toughest.”

The Jaguars open their season Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. against Fairmont.