The golf season starts today for the Jefferson City Jays.
The in-team competition hasn't stopped.
"It will be a fluid lineup for a while," Jays coach Randy Bickel said as Jefferson City prepared for this afternoon's dual at Waynesville against the Tigers.
Six players - Nathan Erickson, Brett Trowbridge, Burke Craighead, Michael Padberg, Michael Davidson and John Page - are in competition for the five varsity spots.
"It's good because we can put any of those six out there and play well," Bickel said. "It's just a matter of consistency."
Erickson and Trowbridge, both seniors, enter the season at the top two positions. Trowbridge finished tied for 77th at last year's Class 4 state tournament.
Padberg, a sophomore, and Craighead, a senior, are holding down the next two spots. Davidson and Page, Bickel said, "are 5A and 5B."
Bickel has been impressed with his seniors.
"It's three great seniors to have because they are stepping up with leadership and ownership," he said. "They are good role models for the rest of the team."
The three have matured as players from where they started as freshmen.
"They know golf is more than just a number, it's a process," Bickel said. "They look at a golf course differently than they did when they first got here."
Bickel said the entire team has embraced coaching.
"They take what you tell them and they work to implement them," Bickel said. "That tells me they are growing when it comes to the mental game.
"They're becoming competitive golfers."
Bickel attributes much of that to the work of assistant coach Levi Elder.
"Levi is getting a lot of one-on-one work in with the players and you can tell they are responding," Bickel said. "The team is very comfortable working with him.
"The players all respect him. They listen to him, they identify with him. He's been a great asset for the program and we're fortunate to have him on staff."
Not that old habits sometimes don't rear their ugly heads from time to time.
"They can be too concerned about overpowering the ball and not worried enough about hitting fairways and greens," Bickel said.
There's a drill to drill that into their heads.
"When we miss a fairway in practice, we bring it back 50 yards and put the ball in the rough," Bickel said. "If we miss a green, we add strokes."
Bickel said it's working, noting the difference the way the team has played during practice rounds on No. 1 at Meadow Lake Acres Country Club, a short par-4.
"We are hitting a lot more irons and 3-woods off the tee instead of hitting drivers," he said. "They are playing for position, learning to almost play the hole backward to get the distance they want to the green for their approach shot when they tee off.
"It's a mental side of the game, we're being more strategic."
Jefferson City will play in the district tournament at Lake Valley in Camdenton this season, with the sectional scheduled for Rivercut in Springfield. The state tournament will be held at Swope Park Golf Course in Kansas City.
"Winning district and sectional truly is our goal this year, we want to get to state," Bickel said. "And I think it's a achievable goal for us."
This is Bickel's final year as head coach at Jefferson City after nearly 30 combined seasons for the Jays and Lady Jays.
"It's a great group of young men to go out on," he said. "I will look forward to watching the upcoming girls and boys teams, it will just be from afar."