Golf season has arrived for the Washington Demons. Washington is on a dominant run in boys’ golf, winning the Southeast Conference each of the last three seasons and reaching the Class 3A state tournament twice in the last three years, including a fifth-place finish as a team last season.
After 10 team wins last spring, the Demons will need to replace three high-level graduates, including Roman Roth, who was the individual 3A state champion in 2023. But back in the fold are two of the team’s best in juniors Rajan Roth and Drew Conrad.
Rajan Roth won a district championship last season with a three-under-par 68 as part of two total victories, while Conrad joins him in racking up double-digit top-10 finishes already in their careers and having average 18-hole scores of 77 or lower in 2024.
Also back is junior Carson Brown, who received all-conference honors in his first full varsity season, and senior Cole Vetter, who, like Brown, had an adjusted cumulative average score of 49 or better last year. Washington head coach Collin Stark tells KCII Sports that his team is in good position to continue their recent run of excellence.
“We still have pieces in our lineup,” Stark says. “With [high school] golf, you have six on varsity [but] with only four scorers counting, so the biggest thing is [that] you’ve got to make sure that you have four good scorers, and a good place to start is the four guys that are returning.”
While the Demon girls lose their top scorer in Maci Williams, senior Lauren Hinrichsen is back after shooting the second-best rounds of the season for the team last year. New head coach Drew Ayrit tells KCII Sports that everyone on the team, experienced or otherwise, will continue to grow into their games.
“Golf is one of those sports where I feel like there’s almost no ceiling,” Ayrit says. “I think we’ve all got areas where we can improve. I certainly am happy to have some returning varsity members that can help out and know the ropes.”
The Washington girls open their season by hosting a Southeast Conference meet today at Washington Golf & Country Club, while the Demon boys will compete in a conference event in Fairfield.