Goessel golf coach Chad Lindeman is on the hunt for varsity golfers, and if the past is any indication, he’ll find a combination that has a good chance of returning to state.

“We’re pretty young and inexperienced at the varisity level this year,” he said.

It’s not the first time Lindeman has sung that lament, but in recent years he’s had some success in overcoming it, something he attributes to what he teaches inexperienced golfers and where they practice.

“The biggest thing for us is managing course play, choosing your best options, minimizing your strokes, and staying out of trouble,” Lindeman said. “When you have young people beginning to play, they can get caught up in distance rather than the club they should be using.”

The team practices at the par-3 Pine Edge Golf Course northeast of Goessel, which gives golfers’ irons a workout.

“Irons are the clubs you use the most, and that’s all we ever work on,” Lindeman said. “We’re spoiled to have a course like that. It’s not a huge course, and I can walk the course and get to all my groups in a day’s practice.”

The Bluebirds return state qualifiers senior Luke Unruh and junior Rhett Makovec and head into the season with 16 golfers, including eight novices.

Jade Sterk, Matt Regier, Jordan Schmucker, and a trio of sophomores — Braden Roby, Jayce Schmidt, and Carson Sterk — have shots at earning varsity spots, depending on how they develop, Lindeman said.

“It’s going to take them a while, but hopefully they’ll fill spots for us as the year goes on,” he said. “We hope to make another good run at it again this year.”