Senior Kelly Jones chipped in from just off the practice green at Austin Country Club on Wednesday and Mark Anderson knew he was in trouble.

Thursday, March 23, 2000

Senior Kelly Jones chipped in from just off the practice green at Austin Country Club on Wednesday and Mark Anderson knew he was in trouble.

"I owe them a free pop every time they chip in," said the Austin girls’ golf coach. "I’m probably in for a case-and-a-half already."

The Austin boys’ and girls’ golf teams have been practicing for almost two weeks – and the short game has been the focus of both squads.

"In golf," said boys’ coach Claudia Pilot, "you’re going to miss greens. But if you have a good short game – one that gets you up on the green and down in a putt or two – you’re going to be a better player."

Anderson knows well how much a little work on the short game can impact a team’s score.

When practice began last season, Anderson took the advice of others and simply let his girls build up round after round of practice.

He found that was a mistake and soon he was conducting his practices from the nooks and crannies around the practice green.

"We were struggling around the greens and three putting a lot," Anderson recalled. "After three weeks of work on the short game, our score dropped from 402 to 352."

Unlike Anderson, who is guiding a young-and-learning crew of girls, Pilot is in the enviable position of returning the entire lineup from last season’s Big Nine co-championship team.

For the boys, then, sharpening the short game might mean securing a state berth.

"We’d like to end our season on June 5-7 at Bunker Hills (site of the state golf tournament)," Pilot said, "and we can do it."

Pilot has her advanced golfers – her top five averaged scores in the high 70s and low 80s last season – working on overcoming bad starts.

"We’re learning how to go out and score," she said. "If one of our golfers goes out bogey, bogey, bogey, we want them to be able to hold it together. You need a good short game to keep that round from becoming an 87."