FALL SPORTS PREVIEW: Sandpoint golf hoping for top finishes with upperclassmen-heavy lineups

LAST SEASON: GIRLS — 4A District 1-2 Champions, third place at the state championship. BOYS — 4A District 1-2 Runner-up.

GOLFERS TO WATCH: GIRLS — Taylor Mire, sr.; Alexa Tuinstra, sr.; Demi Driggs, sr.; Raegan Samuels, sr.; Claire Loutzenhiser, sr. BOYS — Micah Young, jr.; Cooper Zimmerman, jr.; Logan Roos, jr.; Aidan Rork, sr.; Jacob Aexel, sr.; Everett Gilman, jr.

GIRLS

Head coach Mike Deprez said a number of years ago that depth is the biggest thing in the sport of golf. 

“Most teams have one or two great players and just hope for decent showings from their No. 3 and No. 4 golfers,” Deprez said in a Spring 2022 interview with the Daily Bee. “I want to make sure that my third and fourth player is better or as good as the other team’s No. 1 and No. 2.”

For the Lady Bulldogs, who last won a state title in 2021 when Deprez’s daughter, Cece, was on the team, history has a good chance of repeating itself. The Lady Bulldogs have been waiting for 2024. This year, they have five solid seniors who are ready to get the job done: Taylor Mire, Alexa Tuinstra, Demi Driggs, Raegan Samuels, and Claire Loutzenhiser.

“Will their efforts and abilities be rewarded, and the answer is, that is certainly the hope,” Deprez said about his girls’ golf squad. “They have done everything that I have reasonably asked of them. We have brought in as many resources as we could to give them every chance possible, and they have taken advantage of that. We will see.”

Mire and Tuinstra will lead the team this season. Mire won the 4A District 1-2 title in 2023 and placed fourth at the 4A State Championship with an impressive +17 total to par gross after two rounds. Tuinstra, another veteran golfer with years of experience, was 13th at 4A State Championship with a +34 total par to gross. 

As Deprez said, he wants his No. 3 and No. 4 golfers to be better or as good as opposing teams’ No. 1 and No. 2 golfers, and this year, that reigns true more than ever. Samuels really came into form at the end of last season as the Lady Bulldogs’ No. 3 golfer. She placed 22nd at the 4A State Championship with a +53 total par to gross. Loutzenhiser, after finishing fourth on the team at districts, impressed with a 17th place finish at state (+41). Driggs rounded out the Bulldogs' top five with 24th place finish at state (+60).

After hours of work in the offseason at The Idaho Club and at the Sandpoint Elks, it’s likely that all five of these golfers have improved. The Lady Bulldogs certainly face an uphill battle, as Bishop Kelly and Twin Falls, last year’s top and runner-up teams, respectively, are slated to be solid once again this year.

“We need scores in the 70’s and 80’s, and do I think our No. 3, 4, 5 golfers can achieve that? Yes.,” Deprez said. “Their practice has been much more scripted, organized, and regular now that the season has begun, not that they have been shy about that, because their effort has been phenomenal through the spring and summer as well. My goal is to build momentum going into districts and state.”

On the 14th of this month, the Lady Bulldogs competed at an invitational at the MeadowWood Golf Course in Liberty Lake. Already, all of the the Lady Bulldogs had scores in the 70's and 80's and easily won the invite. They proved their up for the challenge of being the best team in the state this year.

“For the girls, the goal is to win state, and that’s very clear and known,” Deprez said. “I want them to be all business about this… patient, but all business.”

BOYS

Sandpoint High boys’ golf is ready for a taste of success at districts and to make some noise at the state championship. With a total of 12 solid golfers who could be amongst the top five, most of whom are juniors, the Bulldogs are on the brink of a breakthrough year.

“I think that over the years, the enthusiasm and success of the girls has led to success with the boys,” Deprez said. “I didn’t expect the boys’ numbers to be as generous as they are… it’s been a domino effect, in a good way, starting about four years ago. Now all of a sudden we have all these boys and they’re all good.”

Deprez says the building blocks are in place and that his goal of having 10 or more golfers with reasonably good golf swings, both in their short games and full swings, has been accomplished.

“We have spent a lot of time on chipping so these guys know what to do inside of 70 yards,” Deprez said. “The fundamentals are there, the building blocks are there, they just need to start owning their swings and tighten up. They’re doing exactly what I want them to do, and that’s playing a lot of golf.”

Two seniors return for the Bulldogs this year. Aidan Rork returns after a great junior year campaign which included a solid finish at the 4A District 1-2 Championship. Jacob Aexel, younger brother of SHS standout Joey Aexel, has dealt with health issues over the years but is set to return to the course this season.

“Jacob is on a different level; he is quite good,” coach Deprez said. “His game leaves a lot of room for optimism and excitement.”

Deprez said that optimism extends to his entire team, noting that this year could be a big year for the Bulldogs. He said it’s the year that he wants his golfers to be calibrating not necessarily the mechanical aspects of their swing, but more so the decisions they make and how they handle themselves on the golf course.

The goal for the boys' team this season? Deprez said it's to get them all to the point where they can realize their full potentials. Juniors Micah Young, Everett Gilman, Cooper Zimmerman, and Logan Roos, along with Aexel and Rork, are some golfers to watch out for. The same goes for Grady Kelly, Bode Eacret, Rajah Brown and Tyler Weisz.

The top five at the Bulldogs’ first outing of the year were: Eacret, Roos, Zimmerman, Young, and Brown, in that order. Deprez said the starting five will vary from tournament to tournament. 

“We want them to all push each other,” Deprez said. “My conversation with all of the boys is, that even if they don’t make the top five for districts, I want them to be proud that they pushed themselves and the others to be as good as they could possibly be.”

SHS GOLF SCHEDULE

8/20 — @ Post Falls Invitational

8/29 — @ Lake City, 9:30 a.m.

9/5 — @ Moscow, 9 a.m.

9/12 — @ Lewiston, 9 a.m.

9/13 — @ Coeur d’Alene, 10 a.m.

9/19 — @ Lewiston, 9:30 a.m.

9/23 — @ The Idaho Club, 11 a.m.

9/26 — @ Lakeland, 9 a.m.

9/30 — @ Coeur d’Alene, 9 a.m.