Pendleton Heights High Schools Sam Denny hits his tee shot on a par 3 at the 2021 HHC Boys Golf Championship at The Players Club at Woodland Trails in Yorktown on Saturday, May 15, 2021.
Rob Baker | For The Times-Post
Pendleton Heights High School’s Sam Denny watches his tee shot at the 2021 HHC Boys Golf Championship at The Players Club at Woodland Trails in Yorktown on Saturday, May 15, 2021.
Rob Baker | For The Times-Post
Pendleton Heights High School’s Cohen Gray chips from just off the green at the 2021 HHC Boys Golf Championship at The Players Club at Woodland Trails in Yorktown on Saturday, May 15, 2021.
Rob Baker | For The Times-Post
Pendleton Heights High School’s Cohen Gray puts some power behind his tee shot at the 2021 HHC Boys Golf Championship at The Players Club at Woodland Trails in Yorktown on Saturday, May 15, 2021.
Rob Baker | For The Times-Post
Pendleton Heights High School’s Sam Denny blast his way out of the bunker at the 2021 HHC Boys Golf Championship at The Players Club at Woodland Trails in Yorktown on Saturday, May 15, 2021.
Rob Baker | For The Times-Post
PENDLETON — The coach is brand new and much of the team is, too.
Hunter Cook is the new boys golf coach at Pendleton Heights High School.
A 2014 PHHS grad, Cook went on to play baseball at Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois. When an injury sidelined his baseball career, he took up golf.
He is now the assistant golf pro at The Edge golf course in Anderson.
His team returns the top two golfers from the 2021 season, but they are still a youthful group of Arabian golfers.
“The team is very young this year,” Cook said. “We have a great and huge freshman class coming in.
“We’re going to have some ups and downs. It’s going to be how we battle back from those downs (that) will be the biggest thing this year.”
Junior Cohen Gray and sophomore Sam Denny are back from a team that finished sixth in the Hoosier Heritage Conference and seventh at the Noblesville Sectional.
Gray shot an 81 at the sectional tournament at Fox Prairie Golf Course and was just one stroke away from qualifying as an individual for the regional tournament. Denny shot an 86 at the event.
In the conference tournament, Gray and Denny were low Arabians at the event hosted by Yorktown at The Players Club. Gray shot an 84 and Denny had an 87.
Ten of the team’s 12 players are freshmen (six) and sophomores (four). Gray is the lone junior, and Jace Souders is the only senior.
Following Gray and Denny, coach Cook said he could see the rest of this year’s varsity five be made up of freshmen. Brady Gray, Cohen’s younger brother, Colin Weir, Ryan Davis and Vance Jarvis are all high school rookies and top candidates for the remaining spots.
Two other Arabians, sophomores Lucas Poynter, who shot a 91 in the sectional, and Bryant Davis return with some varsity experience. Both were part of conference and sectional lineups a year ago.
“They are all always out working,” Cook said. “I had multiple people call me (last week), to see if I had practice on Sunday. I had nine of my 12 kids out on the course. It’s good to see I have kids willing to work and wanting to get better. That’s awesome for me as a first year coach to have kids that want to get better like that.”