SUPERIOR – Even though many golf courses are still closed for the winter, the Superior Golf team has begun practicing for their first games of the year.

The golf team is small and has approximately seven members. The team used the old driving range in Superior to work on their swings and aim. According to Head Coach Seth Khul, Friday, March 21, was the team’s first day hitting balls on the field.

Some of the players have not been able to make it to the full practices. With other events needing their attention, a few of the athletes had to come late.

“Prom is this week, so they’re all involved with that,” Khul said. “Whenever they get here, they get here.”

Because of snow still melting on the course, the Superior team has not been able to practice on the golf course in St. Regis. Khul wanted it to open soon so the team could practice on it before the first meet.

The team has one senior this year. The rest are mostly juniors with a sophomore and freshman rounding out the group.

Superior’s golf team has been co-ed for the last few years. According to Khul, there has not been enough interest among the girls to fill a full team so the ones interested in playing had to join with the boys. This year, only one girl will be on the team.

With only one graduating senior on the team last year, most of the kids have returned for another season. Khul felt some of the kids showed promise and planned to get them ready for the big competitions.

With the exception of games against St. Regis and Seeley-Swan, Superior will be playing against Class B schools throughout the season. The team is expected to face St. Regis in every tournament this year. The coach said there were only three teams for the class in the area so it was hard to say how things would go.

“You don’t really get an idea of what you’re going to get until you get to state,” Khul said. “You can get an idea in the papers, but we don’t go to tournaments with Lone Peak, another big one is Manhattan. We don’t even see those guys until we get to state.”

Khul said the team to watch this year was Lone Peak. Because the Big Horns had several younger players in the top ranks last year, he expected them to have a good team. Even though it was early, Khul said it looked good for Lone Peak to win the state championship again this year.

Last year Superior finished in the middle of the pack. Khul said they have been able to hold their own in the past but he did not feel they played as hard as they could have. He has higher expectations for some of the kids this year and wants to see better things from them since they have more experience.

The team’s first meet will be Thursday, April 3, and Friday, April 4, during the Loyola Invitational in Missoula.