The Carl Junction girls golf team has three returning starters this fall — senior Anna Burch and juniors Olivia Teeter and Alex Teeter.
“I’m very excited about this upcoming season, as we have a good mixture of veteran players along with some new young talent,” Carl Junction coach Corey Clingan said. “Over the summer, after talking with the players, I know they all have the same common goal, and that is to be better every day. The girls put themselves in contention in every tournament last season, and I think it will only get better this season.”
Burch and both Teeters are expected to be key performers again this fall. Olivia Teeter finished 14th at last year’s COC tourney, while Burch tied for 17th and Alex Teeter tied for 23rd in the conference.
“These three have been a constant the last several years to help us have success,” Clingan said.
Last year as a team, the Bulldogs won the Joplin Invitational, took second place at Nevada’s invite and were third at the Cassville Invitational. Carl Junction tied for fourth at the Central Ozark Conference Tournament.
Carl Junction must overcome the loss of two key performers to graduation—Rylee Sprague and Jasmine Woerner.
One player who is expected to make a solid contribution this fall is freshman Lyric Belcher.
“She’s been putting in a ton of work this summer and showing her worth in several junior tournaments,” Clingan said. “I think Lyric will come in and have an immediate impact this season. I look forward to watching her grow in her game over the next several years.”
Several other freshmen are competing for varsity positions.
“I think we’ll have close to six new faces joining us and five of those being freshmen,” Clingan said. “That also means some learning curve and experience will be needed. But this group of girls has come in ready to work and learn, so I have no doubt they will be successful.”
With a mix of varsity veterans and promising newcomers, Clingan is confident the Bulldogs can have a solid ’23 campaign.
“I think this team will come out competitive right from the get-go and continue to grow with experience,” he said. “I think that by the end of the season, this is the type of team that could sneak up and do something great come postseason time.”
Clingan feels optimistic about the squad after seeing the amount of work the players put in over the summer.
“I saw all these girls put in the work trying to get better instead of waiting for August to roll around,” he said. “They were dedicated.”
To Clingan, the team’s main key to success is simple.
“Patience,” he said. “This team needs to know that every day is a day to learn something new and to grow their own individual games. If they are patient with a mixture of hard work, success will be on the horizon.”
Carl Junction is scheduled to begin the ’23 season on Aug. 29 at Lamar. The team will host the Carl Junction Invitational on Sept. 11.
