Bulldog Boys Golf Team Look To Fill Vacated Spots This Season

The Milbank Area boys golf program, under the direction of Mark Keeton, kicked off its 2015 season Monday, August 10, with the first day of practice and ImPACT testing. Testing began at 8 a.m. in the high school computer lab for athletes in grades seven, nine and 11. The first practice followed from 10 a.m. to noon. Athletes must bring the signed permission form to the testing.

Additional practices and activities for the first weeks of practice until school begins are as follows:

Tuesday, August 11 – 10 a.m. to noon – practice
Wednesday, August 12 – 6:30 a.m. – Breakfast of Champions
10 a.m. to noon – practice
Thursday, August 13 – 9 a.m. – Team and Individual photos with practice following
Friday, August 14 – 10 a.m. to noon – practice
Monday, August 17 – 10 a.m. – POET Invitational meet at Pine Hills Golf Course in Milbank -varsity only
Tuesday, August 18 – 9 a.m. – West Central Invitational meet – varsity only
Wednesday, August 19 – 10 a.m. to noon – practice
Thursday, August 20 – 3:15 to 5:15 p.m. – practice
Friday, August 21 – 10 a.m. to noon – practice
Monday, August 24 – 9 a.m. – Dell Rapids Invitational meet – varsity only
7 p.m. – Mandatory athlete-parent at high school theater – all athletes must attend to fulfill sports related requirements.

Keeton begins his third season as the head coach of the boys golf team. He has been head coach for the girls team for six years.

Adam Thomas and Noah Pillatzki return to the team as letter winners. “Both have a lot of varsity experience, and I will be looking to them to lead a very young team this year,” noted Keeton. “This is always a fun time of year. Depending on how much time a golfer has put in during the summer, we could have any number of athletes step up and play at the varsity level.”

The Bulldogs placed seventh at the state tournament last season with four senior golfers. The team was also awarded the Academic All-State Achievement Award. “We lost four starters from last year,” explained Keeton. “We will be playing a lot of golfers that do not have much varsity experience. My goal for them is to show gradual improvement throughout the year and hopefully have them playing their best at regions.”

Fans will see the team in new shirts with a new design along with new Bulldog golf towels.

Teams to watch in the conference and region include Aberdeen Roncalli, Dell Rapids and Madison. Region 1A is made up of Milbank Area, Aberdeen Roncalli, Dell Rapids, Flandreau Indian, Groton Area, Madison, McCook Central-Montrose, Sioux Valley, Sisseton and Tri-Valley.

Milbank Area has a busy season on its home course – Pine Hills Golf Course. The locals will host its own POET Invitational meet as well as the Northeast Conference, Region 1A and State Class A tournament this year.

Click here to see photos of today’s first practice!

Following is the complete schedule for 2015: