Boys Golf
2024 Season Review
The preseason key for the Royals golf team was to believe. When the season began, the belief was not there, as the team lost its top three golfers from the prior year. All of the players worked hard in the offseason, but they weren’t all aware of the progress being made. That belief was found soon enough!
There were four top players who played in every 9-hole match and 18-hole tournament. They were seniors Nathan Fikes and Oliver Wellman and juniors Keegan Rund and Noah Irwin. The fifth position was a revolving door between junior Casey Newett, freshman Gabe Sulit and sophomore Chuck Dugan. Late in the season, freshman Kolton Bertram stuck his foot in the door and took the fifth spot heading into sectionals. That would prove to be providential. Fikes led the team all season averaging 79, while Rund had the second lowest-average. All of the top four broke 80 multiple times during the season.
Heading into sectionals, the guys prepared very well and had a ton of confidence. Fikes shot 78, Irwin and Bertram shot 79. Bertram’s 79 was an extremely clutch performance at the right time! Rund shot 80 and Wellman 82, giving the team a 316 total and a regional berth. That was where the season would end with Fikes giving a solid individual run, shooting 77 and being just 5 strokes short of advancing to state.
Due to his hard work all season, Nathan Fikes was named team MVP and earned the Leadership Award. He was also named Academic All-State and All-County. Joining him with All-County honors was Keegan Rund, who was also awarded the Mental Attitude Award. Rounding out the end-of-season awards for the Royals was Oliver Wellman, who was given the Sportsmanship Award.