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Creston/O-M's golf season came and went with expectations higher than the year prior, and for head coach Jon Thomson, the emotional investment in the team was painful knowing he wouldn't get to see them compete.
"I'm sad. I'm upset," Thomson said. "This was supposed to be another great year for golf. I talked about this senior crew and this junior, when they were freshmen and sophomores, that I can't wait for them to be juniors and seniors. Now they're juniors and seniors, and now it's just gone. A little selfishness of mine, wanting great things to happen for these guys. Now, it's just gone."
Led by a strong upper-class core, the Panthers' upper-class leadership was going to be a strength they leaned on throughout the season before the April 17 season cancellation.
"With golf, experience is huge," Thomson said. "... Colby Burg went to the next level. He made it past sectionals and into districts. They're going to lose a year of that. Some of the grinds, some of the things they learn as underclassmen, they're going to lose out on."
Growing season by season, the juniors and seniors progressed throughout their first few years in the program, showing the potential to become a powerhouse.
Thomson said the team found ways to improve on each experience, finding success through competition on the course. As the years and experiences piled up, Thomson felt this was the season to make a lasting impact on the program.
"This is a pretty strong core of seniors," Thomson said. "... What's frustrating too is that I was going to have some freshmen coming in who were going to add some competition to some already high-level competition that we already had. ... It was going to be electric this year for the boys to golf."
The group, led by five seniors – Brayton Chesnut, Hayden Green, Luke Latham, Rylan Luther and Beau Thompson – were anticipated to be strong after a successful first three seasons, but the cancellation took away the opportunity to pass along the experience to the next group coming up.
The year lost brings uncertainty for the Panthers' players and coaches. Losing five seniors, Thomson put emphasis on the importance of competition against teams like Atlantic and Denison-Schleswig rather than practicing against each other.
For Thomson, that competition against conference rivals is the driving force to the success of the program. Having an entire season missing that drive, he isn't sure of how the lack of competition will have an impact on the future of Creston golf.
"It's not a great circumstance," Thomson said. "... There are so many unknowns. I really don't know. This is unprecedented, so it's never really happened before. I get frustrated when we miss 18 holes."
Even with all of the negativity surrounding the season, the missed opportunities and the inability to become better golfers through competition, Thomson is looking past the situation and keeping the glass half full.
"I'm happy too, because they're a group of boys, that they're not letting this situation get to them," Thomson said. "So, I mean in the bigger scheme of things. That's what we have to focus on."
Girls golf
Entering the season as back-to-back Hawkeye 10 champions, the Creston/O-M girls golf team had equally high expectations as their male counterparts.
A third-place finish at the Betty Heflin Invitational and fourth at the Class 3A regional tournament were other bright spots from the stellar 2019 season. Highlighted by the Panthers' lone senior Sydney Hartsock and junior Rylie Driskell, Creston/O-M looked to the best team and individual performances in the groups' run.
Losing one starter from last season, Taylor Buxton, the Panthers returning lineup was filled with experience. Maria Groumoutis, Jessica Peddycoart, Hartsock and Driskell highlighted the front end of the lineup to the tone of high expectations until word came down that the season wasn't going to be played.
Groumoutis, Peddycoart and Driskell will return next season, looking to continue the program's recent success, but the program sustained a blow. Losing Hartsock as a leader on the course and as a member of the team, the Panthers are taking a major hit to the betterment of the program.
"My heart goes out to Syd, my lone senior for the girls," Thomson said. "We've had some greats and another great coming through with Rylie Driskell, but as far as pure leadership and things on the course, that's a huge loss for us."
Driskell made the all-tournament second team and all-state first team after a strong sophomore year. She finished ninth at the state tournament and improved on her second-place finish as a freshman at the Hawkeye 10 tournament, winning the 18-hole tournament last season.
"We just missed out for qualifying last year for state," Thomson said. "State was again on the front of our minds, and Riley is going to miss out on a lot of would haves, could haves, should haves. She would have been a potential four-time state qualifier, placed in the top-10 last year. She misses out on that. It's heartbreaking."
The losses for each player, especially the seniors, Thomson feels the pain and relishes each moment with his players, but looks ahead to the shining light of the future.
Excited about the would-have-been freshmen this season and the veteran leadership at the top, Thomson knows the team will put the work in during the off season and continue to grow, becoming a powerhouse in the Hawkeye 10 and in the state.