The MSHS boys golf team coached by Ken Vecchio and Brandon Lutz help the players learn the skills and fundamentals they need to play in tournaments.
Both JV and varsity practice together. The training takes place at Valley Hi Golf Course in Colorado Springs. 15 to 20 minutes are spent chipping and putting. After this, the group goes down to the driving range for the rest of practice.
MSHS hasn’t always had a golf team. “Manitou put a golf program in 2002, and I’ve been coaching golf since then,” Vecchio said.
Vecchio’s goal for his players is to learn a lifelong sport. “This is a lifetime sport, so trying to give guys the fundamentals they need so they can go out and play golf their entire life.” Vecchio said. “I’m almost 70 years old and I still go out and play golf like I was a college basketball player.”
Lutz started playing golf at a young age. “I started playing golf when I was seven. I played all my life,” Lutz said. “I enjoy it, and I thought it’d be fun to coach it.”
Lutz said there are many important things to learn in golf, such as golf etiquette.
Landon Foster, a senior playing for varsity on the golf team, began playing golf in sixth grade. “The first year, I started playing golf with Mr. Randy Niebuhr,” Foster said.
Foster decided to play golf because his dad was a golfer. “My dad played it for a long time, and I was looking for something to do,” he said. “I used to do karate, and then I stopped doing that; so I wanted something to fill my time.”
Both Vecchio and Lutz have recommendations for anyone that wants to play golf. “Anybody’s welcome to come out,” Vecchio said.
Lutz agrees that students should try golf. “I think everyone should play golf because once you get a little older, you can’t play some of those sports anymore,” Lutz said. “When you’re older, you can play golf when you’re by yourself. I think it’s a lifetime sport.”
