ENTERPRISE — While they haven’t been able to do much more than hit range balls, Enterprise golf coach Kyle Crawford is optimistic about what his team will be able to do this spring.

“The kids, I definitely feel like they are eager to get out and play some real golf,” he said. “You can only hit so many range balls into the snow before it gets old. Everyone is pretty motivated to learn. Just waiting on that weather.”

Repetition has been a key early on, especially as they wait for the opportunity to get onto the fairways and greens.

“The first thing I’m trying to get kids (to do) is to just enjoy being out there. We’re hitting a lot of golf balls, everyone is taking turns, being positive with each other, so just starting to enjoy the game,” Crawford said. “Secondly, we’re working on being more consistent. It takes a lot of repetition to hit a golf ball where you want it to go on a regular basis. We’re working on that muscle memory.”

Crawford has 11 on the boys team and nine on the girls squad, and has several returners on both squads.

The boys returners include Parker Siebe, Caleb Sheahan, Nathan Lamb, Gunnar McDowell and Alder Brann. While most of them should figure into the Outlaws’ top five, two newcomers could vie for those spots.

“I definitely got a couple of kids that I got my eye on,” Crawford said. “Wyatt Nash, who is a freshman. We went to Echo (for a tournament) this last Friday. It was his first time golfing in a tournament but after he got done playing, he worked for about three hours on putting.

“Very few kids put in that much time after a round of golf.

“Brady Brown, he’s picking up the game really quick. He is very coordinated with his swing and really coachable when I’m tweaking little details. … I couldn’t tell you who will be the top five by the end of the season at this point.”

The girls team has more returners among the nine, but still had a fair amount of youth. Just two seniors, Jordyn Stonebrink and Ashlyn Greer, and one junior, Codi Cunningham, are on the squad. Sophomores Kimber Stein, Jordan Jennings, Lydia Yost, Jordyn Ellis and Krystal Beckman round out the returners.

“Every single girl that is returning played in at least one tournament last year, in our home tournament,” Crawford said. “They are hitting the ground running this year.”

Newcomer Zella Moore could also play her way into the mix, Crawford thinks.

“She just has been picking (the sport) up quick,” he said. “She’s hitting the golf ball with pretty good power and confidence, and sometimes that takes a little bit to get there.”

In fact, many of the girls’ players are bringing more power off the tee, which encourages the coach.

“I’ve got several kids swinging a little bit harder than last year with some accuracy,” he said. “That’s a step forward.”

The team may fall short of having individuals who shoot well enough to place, but Crawford thinks collectively, they could turn in scores that could get the team to state.

“As a whole we’ll have five girls that are closing in on 100, which is a pretty reasonable team score,” he said. “I’m hoping we can compete at the district level and make a push for state.”

Wallowa/Joseph, on the flip side, has just three boys out on the team this season — all three from Joseph. Owen Gorham, Jonas McKee and William Clark, a newcomer, will carry the mantle for the team.

Like Enterprise, Wallowa/Joseph is limited at the moment to the driving range.

Head coach Marvin Gibbs is optimistic about what Gorham can shoot, and things both he and McKee should be improved over a year ago, while he said he hasn’t seen enough of Clark’s play to get a good gauge on him.

“I think Owen can shoot some pretty decent scores,” Gibbs said. “He’s got the potential to shoot around 90, maybe in the 80s. I look for them to both improve over last year, and hopefully they both can shoot some lower scores.”

Despite his efforts, Gibbs has not yet had luck getting athletes from Wallowa to join this spring.

“I’ve tried to get girls in Wallowa, boys in Wallowa — there’s not as much interest. I wish there was.”

Both Wallowa/Joseph and Enterprise will play in Enterprise’s home tournament May 5, and the district tournament is May 8-9 at Birch Creek in Pendleton.