It would be easy for first-year head coach Corey Haugen to be apprehensive about the 2002 Austin High School boys' varsity golf season.

It is, after all, his first head coaching position, and the Packers graduated eight of their top 12 scorers from last year's Section 1AA runner-up squad.

But Haugen, who was the sixth-through-eighth-grade boys' golf coach at Austin for four years previous to this season, still has hopes for his team to compete despite considerable losses to graduation.

Senior Adam Plotts is the top Packer back for the new campaign, which for Austin is scheduled to begin April 11 at defending Class AA team champion Rochester Century. The Panthers, who escaped last year's matches with Austin by a combined four strokes in two Big Nine Conference duals, also edged the Pack by one shot for the Section title, 304 to 305, in Hastings. Century went on to win the state team title, and the Panthers bring back three starters from their top six.

Austin, however, has a smaller talent pool returning. Plotts' stroke average of 80.3 is by far the best coming back. Junior Mike Osboe competed in four varsity meets last season, scoring an average of 83.7, while junior Matt Ball's only varsity competition brought in an 87. Ball averaged 85.6 during the season, with a low of 78 coming during a junior varsity meet.

Plotts, a senior, bottomed out with a career-best 71 at the Red Wing Invitational. Austin tied the tournament record with a team total of 294, and later broke and tied their own school record in a 283-287 loss at Rochester Lourdes and a 287-295 Big Nine Conference dual at Rochester John Marshall.

Osboe and Ball each had career-bests below 80 last season, but only Chad Petersen's 81 comes relatively close to that mark. Jon Bain, a junior, shot his personal-best 84 last season, while sophomore Troy Hoefflin reached 90 in one of his two JV meets.

"We've got a lot of young guys," Coach Haugen acknowledged. "Of our top 10 from last year, eight graduated. We've still got a lot of spots to fill, and as soon as we get outside we're going to be able to take a look at all of the kids.

"We need to step it up because we've got a lot of spots to fill."

Sophomores Erik Sherman and Travis Coyle are contenders to complete the varsity lineup, while freshmen Ben Meyer and Quinn Ellingson also possess the ability to make their mark in the top six.

"For some of them it's going to be a lot of work to do," Haugen said. "We'll just see how it goes. I don't want to call it a rebuilding year, but we are starting over. We should be able to fill the spots with guys who are going to step up."

The Packers graduated five of their top six, including state qualifier Jeff Clark. Clark shot 81-75--156 to tie for 27th overall in Class AA. His round of 73 at the Big Nine meet also earned Clark All-Conference honors, while fellow teammates Brian Duren, David Lorenzen, Cole Berhow and Plotts earned honorable mention All-Conference honors.

Clark also set the school record for scoring in a home meet, chalking up a three-under-par 69 in a one-stroke loss to Century.

The Packers finished 5-5 overall in dual meets last season, and ended 5-4 in Big Nine Conference competition. Austin lost three of four league duals by a combined five strokes, including a tie-breaker defeat at Winona. The Pack placed fourth in the conference tournament hosted by Albert Lea.

:mailto:Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at sports@austindailyherald.com.

Roster:

Seniors--Matt Sellers, Adam Plotts.

Juniors--Brandon Siera, Chad Petersen, Mike Osboe, Pete Nelson, Skyler Hartzog, Jordan Ewert, Thuong Do, Jon Barnett, Matt Ball, Jon Bain.

Sophomores--Erik Sherman, Tony Jorgenson, Troy Hoefflin, Paul Heidecker, Travis Coyle, Dillion Cordes.

Freshmen--Cody Walter, Kyle Toporek, Ben Meyer, Chris Lutz, Quinn Ellingson.

2002 Boys Golf Schedule:

April 11 at Century, Eastwood GC, 3:30 p.m.

April 19 Mankato East, 2:30 p.m.

April 22 Albert Lea, 2:30 p.m.

April 26 at New Prague Invite, 1 p.m.

April 29 Winona, 2:30 p.m.

May 2 Albert Lea, 2:30 p.m.

May 6 at Eden Prairie Invite, Olympic Hills, 2:30 p.m.

May 7 at Owatonna w/JM, 3:30 p.m.

May 11 at Fairmont Invite, 9 a.m.

May 17 at Mayo w/Faribault, Eastwood, 3:30 p.m.

May 20 Austin hosts Big Nine Meet, 10 a.m.

May 23 Section Prelims

May 28 Section Finals at Bellwood

June 3-5 State at Bunker Hills GC, Coon Rapids