The Lakeland Lancer golf team finished their 2026 golf season with a 6-8-1 record, but individually, some standout players made headlines. Most recently, senior Matthew Vanderweele became the county champion.
“It was a wonderful ride watching him play and battle every day,” said head coach Mr. Ron Etzkorn. “It was an absolute pleasure. He has a beautiful self-built swing and he’s a student of the game. He was a great player to coach and as a senior, he was helpful to the other players.”
Guided by head coach Mr. Ron Etzkorn and Mr. Thomas McCormack, the team shows much promise as they learned new skills along the way that they will use in future seasons. The golfers never stopped working, and that effort helped them improve by the end of the season.
One thing the team improved on was getting closer as a group. Vanderweele said, “team bonding helped them improve” as players.
Max McCrohan said “better team chemistry helped everyone work together.”
Linares and Meakem said even “playing hacky sack together helped them become better friends.” This made it easier for the golfers to support each other during matches.
The team also knows they still have room to improve for next season. Vanderweele jokingly said, “Max playing better could help the team win more.”
McCrohan said “everyone needs to be more consistent” while Meakem said they “need to shoot fewer strokes.”
The golfers acknowledged collectively that if they work on these things, they can win more next season.
The new coaches impacted the team as well. McCrohan said the “coaches guide their decisions.”
Linares said “they help the team stay in the right mindset” and Meakem said they “help players make better choices”. This helped the team play smarter.
After coaching baseball for many years, Mr. Etzkorn finally got his chance to coach golf again when a position opened up this year.
“Coaching golf this year was wonderful,” said Mr. Etzkorn. “I’ve always loved golf and coached 30 years ago and at the time, it was a fall sport so I was able to do baseball in spring and fall golf.”
Coach Etzkorn and Coach McCormack worked well together and even came up with a new method of practicing golf skills at the high school. Using the bridge as a makeshift mini golf greenway, the players practiced putting and even used wiffle balls to sharpen their skills without breaking any windows in the process.
From team bonding to creative drills, the Lakeland golf team learned a lot this season. They got better at working together and improved their skills overall. With hard work and dedication, next year will see them in the green.
