First-year HHS Boys Golf Head Coach Creig Henry is a golfer. He's golfed professionally, he's worked as a teaching professional, and he and his wife (Teri Henry, HHES teacher) owned and operated a local driving range for ten years. But Henry has never coached a high school golf team.
What does he think about coaching the HHS Hawks? "I am really, really enjoying it," replied Henry. "Especially on match days. I happily get up early in the morning to front load my work day because I know there is something fun in the afternoon. It is just really a great experience working with these guys and seeing them learn and improve," he added.
The players aren't the only ones learning this season. Henry quickly learned that coaching interscholastic golf isn't all about coaching technique. "There's a big administrative component to this job," he said. That included finding golf courses for practice and home matches - which has been one of his biggest challenges. Hockinson High School lost it's home course when The Cedars ceased operations in 2021. With the closure of Green Mountain Golf Course and executive golf courses Boyer's Par 3 and Hartwood before that, Henry wasn't left with many options.
However, with the flexibility and support of his players and oftentimes their parents, he's been able to cobble together a practice and match schedule at area golf courses, primarily Club Green Meadows and Fairway Village. Recently, though, most of the team has been able to add a Saturday morning practice at the Camas Meadows Driving Range that Henry calls "Doughnuts and Driving." Do the boys show up for the golf or the doughnuts? "I'm pretty sure for the golf," Henry said. "But the doughnuts definitely don't hurt," noting that about 80% of the team attends these optional practices.
The HHS Boys Golf Team consists of 18 players: 6 on Varsity, 6 on Junior Varsity, and 6 on C Team. In a sport that is based on keeping strokes to a minimum, the top two low scorers this season are Senior Tabor Huffman and Junior Tyler Bridges. With only one more senior in the Top 6 - Senior Tyler Dark - the future looks promising for program. Henry anticipates that Bridges and Sophomores Browen Simpson and Blake Ritter will play increasingly prominent roles on Varsity next season. He also feels that a number of his players have the talent and determination to break into the top tier and contribute at the varsity level.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves! The boys, who currently sit at 4 wins-3 losses, still have a regular season to finish. After their matches against RA Long on Sept. 29 and WF West on Oct. 7, the Varsity will play in the Oct. 13 League Tournament from which they hope to send qualifiers to the Bi-District Tournament on Oct. 16-17 and the State Tournament next spring.