A young and inexperienced The Dalles High Riverhawks girls golf team begins the season led by first-year head Coach Nate Timmons.
The Hawks started practice Feb. 28 in preparation for an 11-event Class 5A Intermountain Conference schedule. The Hawks opened their season Tuesday in the eight-team The Dalles Invitational Tournament at home at The Dalles Country Club’s nine-hole course (result was after the printed edition deadline).
“It’s definitely going to be a really exciting season with our four girls,” said Timmons, a 2010 The Dalles High graduate. “I have a group of girls who have a wide range of skill levels. Two of them should be able to have a strong performance and one of them is competing for the first time ever. The Dalles Country Club is nice about hosting us as a golf team and giving us access to everything that we need. The administration at the school has been great as far as getting us everything, too.”
The Hawks quartet of golfers includes sophomores Lilian Dupuis, Katelyn Vassar and Nellie Wilkinson, and junior Paige Compton. Dupuis, Wilkinson, and Compton are playing their first season; Vassar is the lone returner from last year’s squad.
“The season is off to a really good start, and we have a small team, but they’re a really good group of girls,” said Timmons, who is also the Hawks’ assistant swim team coach. “It’s really exciting and it’s awesome be the new coach. My goal is to just build our team and try to get as many players as we can to come out this year and just help the program grow so that we can eventually get 10-12 girls.”
The Hawks will compete in their next tournament Thursday at 11 a.m. at the Golf Course at Birch Creek in Pendleton. Two other tournaments will also be held in The Dalles, including the Dufur Invitational on April 1 and also a tourney April 25 at The Dalles Country Club.
The IMC District Tournament will be May 9-10 in Pendleton, followed by the girls 5A state tournament May 16-17 at Emerald Valley Golf and Resort in Creswell.
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