Over the past few seasons the Bartlett golf team has had trouble getting athletes to pick up a golf club and take a swing at the sport. After securing its second straight season with six wins last fall, coach Alex Hetherman said good bye to his three senior golfers while junior Mason Sebestyanski decided not to return to the team. 

Thus far with the season only a few days away from the Sept. 2 opener  Hetherman has a total of three golfers on his team, leaving him one short of the required four. With the vacant spot Bartlett will have to rely on a ghost player and take that score until they can secure a fourth golfer.

“At this point we have no back-ups or options,” the Indians coach said. “Our results will be our results, making it tough on us to win. Rules allow the other teams to play up to eight golfers and taking the top four scores, we don’t have that liberty.”

On the greens Bartlett will be led by senior Travis Russell, a basketball player that has played for Hetherman on the varsity squad. Although Russell looks to be the leader on paper because of his senior status, he is relatively new to the sport of golf. According to the coach, the senior picked up his first golf club this summer and has been learning the game since then.

“Travis is just beginning his golf career and has looked very promising and has shown a lot of potential,” Hetherman said. “He will definitely be looked upon as the leader of the team.”

The other two golfers behind Travis are eighth graders Logan Kaspernak and Brayden Farraher. Kaspernak has played the game a little, but being on the varsity team will be his first attempt at competition. Farraher is brand new to the game and, much like Kaspernak, will be playing under the leadership of Russell, while the trio will all be basically learning the sport together.

While this season could be very tough for the Indian golfers, it could be the silver lining it the program’s future. If the two incoming eighth graders decide to stick around and play golf for Bartlett, Hetherman would have them for five years and they would become the catalyst and core to rebuilding the program. Russell should be able to navigate them through the ups and downs of high school sports.

As the season gets closer the trio has all been shooting around 50; Russell usually in the mid to upper 40’s, while Kaspernak has been breaking 50 and Farraher shooting just above 50 on a regular basis. 

Having not a ton of experience on the links, Hetherman’s goal this fall for the team is to go out and continue to improve throughout the season. 

“Day by day, match by match, that’s all that I can hope for,” he said. “As long as they go out and give it their all, while competing, that’s all I can ask for.”

On the course the trio needs to continue to improve their game, while becoming confident in themselves to play competitive golf and lowering their scores. If they can do that, especially the younger golfers, the Bartlett program will begin to move in the right direction. Hetherman believes that the athletes are doing everything necessary to improve their games, but it’s going to be a wait and see what happens situation.

Now that school is back in session the coach along with Russell are searching for at least one person to take a chance on the sport and take a swing at the golf ball. 

“A lot of my basketball players play football so I can’t get them to come play golf,” Hetherman said. “Travis is looking around and asking whoever he can and I am trying to spread the word throughout the school and talking to all prospective student athletes.”