Kelly Elg

Senior Jack Dumas in his natural habitat, on the golf course, shooting birdies.

Golf takes up a lot of time, from practice and to competitions. It can take up to four hours to golf and finish one 18 hole course. This time intensive sport has many of its meets during the week days and overlaps with the school day. These meets cause many high school golfers to miss large amounts of the school day. 

These missed days add up quickly for the golfers. During the spring season, the missed days cause some golfers to fall behind in school and have to miss critical practice time. This can be a big concern for those in golf and those interested in participating in golf. 

Ceely Patramanis, a senior varsity golfer for the Pleasant Valley girls golf team, has experienced the many missed days of school due to golf outings. The fact that many of the golf meets are during the week and are usually a full day commitment makes many of the golfers on the girls team worried about school. “I know a few of the girls also find it a bit frustrating to miss out on so much school, but we all want to get better at golf,” Patramanis said. 

Many golfers have a struggle between spending time on the putting green and finishing up classwork. Finding a balance between the two is hard for many of the golfers. Mike Ndelcoff, the head coach for both the boys and girls golf teams, tries to help the golfers find the balance needed to participate in golf and school. 

“Golf season is very time consuming, but it takes a great deal of practice to get better. Our coach is very flexible and preaches school before athletics, so I can always take a day or two off to catch up on school work,” Patramanis stated. 

Ndelcoff has helped all the golfers find the critical balance between golf and school. Jack Dumas, a varsity golf player and male athlete of the year, has had his fair share of school days missed due to golf outings. Dumas, in his four years of varsity golf, has had a lot of experience balancing school work and golf. 

“I have learned how to balance my time. Most of our meets are during the week and cause us to miss a lot of school,” Dumas said. “I have to find a way to get all my homework done, do my make up work and still play golf. After four years I’ve learned how to do that.” 

Dumas completes most of the work he misses by taking advantage of his eighth period resource. He finishes make-up work, missing school work, and homework during eighth period when he needs to catch up or work ahead in preparation for golf meets. 

Many Pleasant Valley golfers struggle to find a balance between golf and school. But through experience and the help of upperclassmen, a system that allows school and golf to overlap can be accomplished. Even with the hardships that come from golf overlapping school, PV golfers prefer the way it is now, to still have golf meets overlap school throughout the school week.