Springs Valley Community High School

The last couple of seasons have been a building process for the Springs Valley boys’ golf team. Since the COVID shutdown the Blackhawks have gotten better and better, bolstered by a large class that had its freshman season wiped out by the pandemic before breaking out as sophomores. Those players — Blake Albright, Ryker Allen, Jack Dalton, Jake Hammond, Landen Noble, Max Pendley, and Owen Weisensteiner — are all seniors now and they’re hoping to make their final season as Blackhawks the best of the bunch. It’ll be hard, they qualified for regional as a team in 2022 after winning both the Orange County and Patoka Lake Athletic Conference meets, but they’re more than prepared to take on that challenge. “This group is definitely one that we’ve been focusing on. I haven’t always been their coach, but back in junior high even, these seniors all kind of decided to focus on golf a little bit more,” Springs Valley coach Mark Hammond said. “Our goals now are a little bit higher. I think they’ve accomplished so much as a group that they want to sustain that, but take that extra step as well.” Their biggest goal is to go toe-to-toe with the best of the best in the state. The Blackhawks want to elevate their games to a level usually only seen at large schools. By doing that, they’re hoping to earn some respect and show that even at a small school, it’s possible to be competitive in an unclassified sport. “There’s a lot of good teams out there and golf isn’t a class sport so we have to compete with all the schools,” Mark Hammond said. “Evansville North is a great team down south, Gibson Southern was so good last year, we’ll see Bloomington South which was one of the better teams in the area. That’s the standard. That’s where we’re trying to go. We’re trying to get closer to them and the kids are putting in the work.” They’re also hoping that the success they’ve had in recent years will have an impact on the program for years to come. It’s already having an effect at the junior-high level. “I’m starting to see some of our junior high kids noticing how many we have and how successful they are,” Mark Hammond said. “That’s our hope, to sustain this boys’ golf program to where every year we’re one of the top teams that get out of sectionals. Maybe we’re not winning, but we’re up there in the top two, top three, and we’re going to regionals every year, we’re winning the conference every year. “We want people to see Springs Valley golf and say that it’s a solid program that they have to contend with year in and year out.” With the number of players the Blackhawks have — their seven seniors are augmented by a pair of juniors and a pair of freshmen — playing time is limited and that means that internal competition is heightened. Of the 11, eight players are within just a few strokes of each other and that has to be cut down to five or six on matchdays. With some luck, that will push each of the competitors to improve their individual games. “The focus this year is probably keeping them focused on getting better and competing during practice more. The last couple of years it’s been competitive, but it’s also been a little more laid back. Now we have seven seniors and all of them want to be in the top five or top six to make sure that they’re traveling with the team and playing each week,” Mark Hammond said. “It also shows those younger guys that it’s alright to compete with each other, you can still have fun doing that, and that’s one of the great things about these seniors. They’re really close and even if they’re competing, they still have fun.” Springs Valley opens its season on Saturday, hosting an invitational at the Donald Ross Course that will feature strong competition like Evansville Memorial and Heritage Hills. The conditions will be suboptimal, it’s expected to rain overnight and through the morning and will likely remain windy even when the Blackhawks get on the course, but all of the teams will have to work through that so they’re going to focus on competing first and foremost. “The weather’s going to play a factor, but we can’t control the weather,” Mark Hammond said. “All we can control is how we compete and that’s what I’m going to keep telling them. It’s next hole, next wing, next putt, whatever, just keep moving forward. Springs Valley Blackhawks Last season: 1st at Orange County Meet, 1st at Patoka Lake Athletic Conference Meet, 3rd at Jasper Sectional, 16th at Providence Regional Coach: Mark Hammond Players to know: Blake Albright (Sr.), Jake Hammond (Sr.), Owen Weisensteiner (Sr.) Events to circle: May 25 vs. Orange County Meet, May 29 vs. PLAC Meet, June 1 @ Jasper Sectional