Julius Caesar.

Feathers.

Tree Branches.

Golf.

To many, these four statements probably have nothing in common, but to some they do. The sport of golf dates back to Julius Caesar’s time. It has developed quite a bit since then, as players back then would hit a feather-stuffed ball with a club-shaped tree branch.

Over time, more and more people became interested in the sport, even going as far as young men playing.

Senior Oscar Buesking was one of these young men. He started playing golf at the age of seven and continues to play today. Buesking chose to join the team in high school because he saw potential in himself.

“I joined the high school golf team because I enjoyed playing and had some skill compared to a lot of kids my age,” Buesking said.

This year, Buesking has had his own personal struggles.

“I started off [scoring] bad and kinda came around to about a little better than usual but,” Buesking said, “as of lately I’m back to average.”

Buesking isn’t the only one improving on the team.

“I think that everyone has improved this year, especially the new kids who have not been playing golf that long,” junior Jonathan McGowan said. “Their scores have improved tremendously over the year.”

McGowan has been playing for five years and has been on the high school team three of those years. Although he did not start playing as young as Buesking did, he still had a motive for joining the team.

“I joined to get a feel for competitive golf and to get better as a golfer,” McGowan said.

Although not all team members have joined for the same reasons, all of them have their rationale and are doing very well this year.

Five team members advanced to Districts May 2: sophomore Logan McPherson, sophomore John Meyer, junior Matt Hoemann, senior Logan Gillig and Buesking. The members competing were determined by scores during the week of April 25.

Leading up to this point, nearly all matches have been a measure of success.

“Almost all matches have gone well,” McGowan said. “We will have a chance to win conference at the conference tournament.”

The players believe that districts went well for the members that participated. Hoemann shot 76 and Meyer shot 87, which qualified them for sectionals. McPherson shot 91, Buesking shot 96 and Gillig shot 107.

On May 3 varsity members Meyer, McPherson, Hoemann, junior Trevor Brauer and Buesking took second place at the Conference Championship Tournament. JV members freshman Nathan Blocker, sophomore Ethan King, sophomore Jackson Short, junior Scott Vanek and McGowan took first.

Sectionals took place May 9. Hoemann finished in second place and will be moving on to state on May 16 and May 17.

Even though Buesking is graduating he’s going to continue practicing and plans to try out for a college golf team his sophomore or junior year. He hopes for the best for the golf team next year.

“As a team,” Buesking said, “I hope they can take a full team to state so they all get to compete.”