The Manhattan High School Boys Golf team has had a busy season, all culminating in a first place finish at the Centennial League tournament, beating Manhattan High’s previous strokes record.

The team had solid performances at their first couple tournaments of the season, including a second place at the Lawrence Country Club, second place at the Wamego Country Club and a first place finish at the Manhattan Country Club. 

“I’ve had some expectations about what I could do this year, and I feel like I’ve reached those goals in a way, but I still want to do more,” freshman Charlie Haney said. 

The team then went to the Firekeeper Golf Course in Mayetta, Kansas, with a lot of tough competition. However, despite this, the team still managed to finish in second place, with senior Tate Reid leading the team.

“It felt like such a relief because I was struggling so much the first few weeks,” Reid said. “I worked really hard to try to get back some of my old form and finally, it just all came together and it felt really nice to finally put something together.” 

Unfortunately, the team encountered one of their first hurdles on April 28 at the Topeka Country Club, finishing in ninth place overall and a season low score.

“Unfortunately it was just a rough tournament, but we all know what happened, where we’ll just have an off day, and so I just remember, on the way home, we were all picking each other up and we bounced back next time,” Reid said.

However, the boys did not let that faze them as they bounced back at the Rusty Hilst Invite on May 2, a tournament with over 150 players and 30 different teams, placing second. 

“Topeka was a hard day with a lot of wind and tough conditions,” Haney said. “At Kerry Park, we all liked the golf course and then played great, ended up placing second and probably the best field we’ve played at all year.”

Just a couple days later on May 5, the team competed at their Centennial League in Emporia, placing first and beating the school record for strokes at a tournament, with 287 strokes. Freshman Haney led the team, also placing first place.

“We set a school record based on what we can see, records wise,” Haney said. “The great thing is we all could have played better, honestly, and to see what we can do is awesome. It’s just a big confidence boost going into Regionals.”

The only senior on the team, Reid, reflects on his team as a senior on the Manhattan High Boys Golf team.

“It’s sad. I’ve had a lot of memories with school and golf and all my teammates, so it’s going to be sad to let them go,” Reid said.

The team is now preparing for their Regionals tournament on May 19.