Young Jays golf team opens season today

Jefferson City's Caleb Tuller tees off during last year’s Central Missouri Activities Conference Tournament at Jefferson City Country Club. (Julie Smith/News Tribune)
Jefferson City's Caleb Tuller tees off during last year’s Central Missouri Activities Conference Tournament at Jefferson City Country Club. (Julie Smith/News Tribune)

The Jefferson City Jays will be looking to gain experience when they start the golf season at 4 p.m. today at the Sedalia Smith-Cotton Quad.

With a young roster of two juniors, five sophomores and a freshman, the Jays know development will be key early.

“I know that we are probably going to through a lot as a team,” Jefferson City coach Brittany Smith said. “There will be frustrations at first, but I am hoping we can grow as a team. I am just looking for them to be confident in themselves and do their best as their coach.”

Jefferson City’s two juniors, Carson Glaser and Caleb Tuller, will be key in helping the younger players along in the process.

“I am really excited to see how both Caleb and Carson can lead our team this year as the two oldest players,” Smith said. “As a coach, I am hoping they can be the team leaders and be supportive of all their teammates.”

Rounding out the rest of the roster are sophomores Will Linthacum, Cole Cook, Lakendrie Carlisle, Brandon Miller and Vincent Murphy and freshman Lakayden Carlisle.

Linthacum has showcased his talents at practice despite only being there for a limited time after being on the Jefferson City basketball roster that made the Final Four.

“I haven’t seen him a lot, but from what I have seen, I am very excited about Will,” Smith said. “… He’s only been with us for just over a week after getting done with basketball. He has a lot of experience from playing at Capital City last year, and I am excited about what his potential could be.”

Everyone will get their chance to showcase what they can do on the course early in the season as gaining experience in competitions will be key for the young roster.

“I’m not 100 percent sure who the top-five will be yet,” Smith said. “… I want to give everybody a chance, because we are so young, to get some experience on the golf course no matter what level they are at. Whether that is varsity or JV, I want them to gain that experience with everything.”

Through preseason work, the Jays have already seen substantial progress.

“I have really seen a lot of improvement in the last couple weeks,” Smith said. “We have a few kids that had little to no experience with golf heading in, so seeing how much they have improved already is great to see as a coach.”

Jefferson City will only have three golfers -- Lakendrie Carlisle, Lakayden Carlisle and Tuller -- for its quad today with it falling on the first day of spring break for the high school.

The Columbia Classic, scheduled for April 3, will be the the first event where the Jays have a full roster.