The Manhattan High Varsity golf team has had a jam packed schedule full of tournaments this month.

While the team has been busy, their practices have paid off after their Centennial League win at the Firekeeper golf course on April 29.

“It has been a tumultuous season so far,” Head Coach Brad Ficke said. “We have had highs and lows, but we are steadily moving towards the highs.”

While they placed eighth at the tournament, they beat everyone else in the League, becoming the 2024 Centennial League champions.

“Three places were decided by five or six strokes, so I’m really proud of my guys,” Ficke said. “A couple of them finished really well, the last four or five holes, which was the difference.”

The team has a couple more tournaments before their big day at Regionals, including Junction City on May 2.

Junior Tate Reid placed first at the tournament, assisting the team to a first place finish with a combined score of 324.

“The course was playing very difficult that day, but I putted really well and stayed consistent throughout the whole day,” Reid said.

The squad followed that up on May 4, for a fourth place finish at the Buffalo Dunes course in Garden City. The team was led by sophomore Jackson Powers, shooting a score of 73 and placing 10th. Up next was Reid, placing 12th with a 74. Reid was followed by sophomore Cade Cochran in 19th with 78, senior Owen Kandt in 30th with an 81, sophomore Cooper Graham in 36th with an 84 and senior Gage Hull in 40th with an 85.

The very same day, the team played 18 more holes at South Wind also in Garden City as State practice, with Powers leading the team again, placing 15th and golfing a 78. Powers was followed up by Graham in 17th, Reid and Hull in 21st and 22nd, Cochran in 24th and Kandt in 32nd.

“Coach Ficke knows what he is doing around the green, so he has been setting us up pretty well [for State],” senior Gage Hull said.

The Varsity squad had over a week off to prepare for Regionals on Monday but due to rain, Regionals was postponed to the next day.

“We are really ‘business as usual’,” Ficke said. “By this point in the season there is some burnout. I don’t think anyone who loves to play golf is on a golf course five days-a-week, but that is what we’re doing. We are just trying to polish our games and finish strong.”

After Regionals, their final tournament of the season will be the 6A State tournament on both Monday and Tuesday, May 20 and 21, also in Garden City.