Foursome leading Cardinal golf team by example

Lead by example is what Newton Senior High’s four returning varsity golfers want to do this fall. The foursome starts doing just that today as the Cardinals open the 2013 season at the Indianola Invitational.

Seniors Bobby Dowling, Cory Hartgers, junior Devin Shores and sophomore Derek Damman have set individual goals for the new season. They also see the big picture for the team.

“As a senior, I want to do my part in helping the team score well in each tournament,” Hartgers said. “I’m shooting to score in the high 70s or low 80s at tournaments this season.”

Dowling said that Cardinal golfers have worked hard to get to a certain level of play as a program. Last year was a good one for Newton and he and the other three returners want to continue to see the team improve, he said.

“My goal is to shoot in the 70s this season,” Dowling said.

Shores is the No. 1 golfer coming back for the Cardinals, coming up just shy of qualifying for state as an individual last year.

“We’re the leaders and we want to lead by example for the rest of the guys out. We want the work we’ve done in the previous seasons to pay off and that means providing four good scores each meet,” Shores said. “For me, I’m looking to be in the 70s and maybe break into the 60s this year at tournaments.”

Shores said the Cardinals are looking for a couple of other members of the 2013 team to step up and provide solid scores as the fifth and sixth golfers in varsity meets. He said for the returners, it is about going out and playing well so the other golfers on the team can see what hard work in practice and in a meet can produce.

“We also want to show them that if we don’t shoot well at a meet that we don’t give up on ourselves. We just come back and work hard,”  Damman said. “We left last season on a high note. We were close to qualifying for state and we want to be able to get there this year. I’ve set a goal of shooting in the low 80s this season.”

Setting individual goals, team goals and working hard in practices are ways the four believe they can lead the Cardinals this season.