TD golfers aiming to take the 5A by storm

Tyler Vassar is just fine with that.

“Losing Chase and Mark is definitely a big blow to our success as a team, but I don’t think it means that we are going to be in last place,” Vassar said. “I think we can continue to improve like did during the summer when we constantly playing in tournaments and if we lower our scores, even lower than last year, I think we can be in contention as far as the team goes.”

Along with Vassar, the Riverhawk golfers have top returners, Aidan Telles and Jacob Ford, and with some added depth and versatility from Aaron Treichel, Jonathan Snodgrass, Maxwell McNeel, George Harrison, David Adams, Dylan Jones and Spencer Taylor, there is plenty of firepower to field a top-flight five-person varsity group.

“I think this year, we still have a lot of potential, as long as we play together, learn more, get coached up and put out the work every day in practices or in tournament,” Aidan Telles said. “If we can do that, we compete with these good teams. A lot of these guys haven’t played at the varsity level, but they are getting there.”

At the 5A Special District 2 Championships held at Eagle Crest in Redmond, the Riverhawks tallied a 682 to finish tied for third overall to move into the state mix as a team.

With that added surge, The Dalles captured second place and its best finish in program history at the 5A OSAA/U.S. Bank/Les Schwab Tires State Golf Championships in Banks, as Snodgrass finished third overall, Vassar was tied for ninth and Felderman ended up tied for 15th place.

Through the opening round, The Dalles shot a combined 332 for a third-place tie with Corvallis, 15 strokes behind Summit and five behind second-place Marist.

In second-round play, four of the five Hawk players cut down strokes to leapfrog both Corvallis and Marist, finishing with a 660, trailing only three-time state champion Summit by 25 strokes (635).

“Last year, we won three or four tournaments as a team and even shot our best score, I think it was a 309 or something, so that gives all of us that are here now a lot of confidence,” Vassar said. “We know what it feels like to win and we know what it feels like to be on top. I think by having that in our minds and in our mental game, we will not psyche ourselves out as much as we used to.”

The Riverhawks will play without Chase Snodgrass and Felderman. They will have a new vision and game plan with new head coach Dan Telles and assistant coach Nate Timmons.

Vassar said that Smith played a prominent role in terms of establishing a positive mindset for the players, while coach Telles is a master at problem-solving and the technical aspects of the game.

“Coach Smith was awesome. He was more of a mental-game coach more than anything else,” Vassar said. “With Telles as our new coach, it is definitely a change from Smith, but it is a great change. He is teaching us more on how to play the game of golf and the mental side as well. Telles is all about the numbers and all about the math and all about problem-solving, so it is cool to have a coach like that who can instill that mindset in us every single day.”

In his state run, Vassar notched a 160 and wound up tied for ninth, as he carded an 82 and was tied for 17th place, but then added four birdies and seven pars in second-day play to score a 78.

Thrown into the fire as a freshman, Aidan Telles proved to be a pivotal piece to the varsity puzzle.

Spanning 36 state holes, Telles racked up one birdie, 11 pars and 14 bogeys for his 180 and a 33rd place tie.

“Being here as a freshman, it was hard at first, but having my teammates here, they helped me a lot and helped me improve as a player and as a person,” Aidan said. “They were willing to give me advice, help me with my game and encouraged me when I wasn’t sure how I would do. We all became real close and it gave us the confidence to compete in tournaments.”

After dealing with a nagging hip injury that forced a withdrawal on both days of District 2 Championship play, Ford completed both rounds and had seven pars and 16 bogeys for a 189 in his 36-hole effort to lock down 42nd place out of 53 players.

During the summer, Ford played in tournaments and improved in several areas, especially on the mental side.

Instead of getting down on himself, he is bouncing back with confidence.

“I played the best I could all summer to prepare for this spring,” Ford said. “My short game is a lot better. I may not be able to hit it as far, but I am a lot more consistent with my driver. And my mental game has improved so much. If I can carry that over this season, I think my scores will get even lower and I can help my team.”

The Dalles starts the season in Umatilla at the Big River Golf Invitational at 10 a.m. Thursday and then hosts the Riverhawk Invitational at 10 a.m. Friday at The Dalles Country Club.