The 2024 golf season is over halfway done, and the players continue to crush their season. Eighteen holes, eight golfers, one is Dayne Schmidke (26). As the 2024 Fall Eaton Golf season continues, the golfers have four out of fourteen tournaments left. Grady O’Connell (25), Eli Crowder (26), Chase Schmitt (25), Miller Gurnsey (25), Schmidke, Logan Cole (27), Ryan Sharp (25), and Tetsu Kinoshita (27) continue to compete around Colorado. Currently, Cole, O’Connell, Sharp, and Schmidke are qualified for the State competition.
Cole said, “This season has been going pretty well. I’ve been placing top twenty in all my tournaments but two, and I’ve been performing well.” Cole has had a history in golf, and considers himself experienced. He said, “My uncle and family would always play golf, and whenever we went on a trip that’s what we would do. Nobody in my family played competitively, but after getting a taste of golf, I decided I wanted to try it out.” Cole takes golfing very seriously, even dropping his other sport to focus more on golf. “I quit hockey so I can focus on golf, because that’s what I want to do after college. I hope to play golf professionally.” Cole is very motivated to play, and still has two years ahead of him. It will be very exciting to see how far he goes in that time.
Sharp is a senior at Eaton High School. He said, “My golf season is going alright.” Sharp has been playing since he was eight and is a very dedicated golfer. Surrounded by family members who golfed, Sharp was very influenced by his dad and grandfather. “The sport was common to talk about growing up,” He said. His senior season has been alright, as he put it, and it has had its ups and downs so far. “The lowlights are that I am not scoring as well as I did last year, but the highlights are spending time with the team and hanging out with each other.” Sharp always keeps a positive attitude toward golfing. Sharp said, “I enjoy golf because of the memories I get, as well as getting an excuse to play golf with my grandpa.”
O’Connell is the other senior on the golf team. His motivation for golf stems from his father, who initially inspired him to start playing. O’Connell said, “Since I was little, my dad has been teaching me how to golf.” He said that he would always play it growing up, but he started taking it more seriously when he began high school. “I’ve been playing professionally since freshman year, when I started getting good at it.” O’Connell enjoys the team this year and he feels the team has a more positive atmosphere. He said, “A highlight is that the team is closer this year, we’ve been playing and practicing more together and it’s nice.”
Varsity golfer Schmidke has had an amazing season so far. Starting golf from a young age, Schmidke has always had the pathway of golf ahead of him. His grandfather and brother constantly played, and from the start, Schmidke was hooked. Schmidke, starting to play professionally in the eighth grade, has continued to play through his high school years. To say that he is excelling would be an understatement. Schmidke is crushing every tournament he goes to. He won one tournament, placed second three times, and placed third five times. However, by far, his most impressive achievement is breaking Eaton’s lowest under-par record. Schmidke follows in his brother’s footsteps, and wants to pursue golf after high school into college.
Playing golf professionally, or “going pro” as golfers would say, is the common goal for most of the varsity team. The players are all very similar, from the fact that most of them started when encouraged by family, to the fact that golf is their main sport. Perhaps, this is the reason why the team is seemingly closer this year, which was a highlight for many of the golfers. Whatever the reason, it is clear that Eaton has a solid golf team and many great golfers. They still have four more tournaments, not including state, so be sure to support the Eaton Reds golf team. The state competition takes place the 7th and 8th of October, at Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo.
