TUMWATER — When Jack Casler dropped his bag on the tee box, one club was collecting dust instead of ball marks.
Instead of using the driver for his first shot per hole, the Black Hills High School standout pulled out his 3-wood and let loose.
“I wasn’t comfortable,” Casler said. “I didn’t have a good feeling over the ball.”
Throughout the winter months in between the end of the fall season and the Class 2A state tournament in May, the junior started using his driver more consistently and pulled it out routinely in Spokane.
Now, he’s hopeful he’ll drive his way back to state.
Casler placed in a tie for 18th at Liberty Lake Golf Course, one of five underclassmen that finished inside the top-20, that has him feeling good about his potential to return.
“Overall, it was a good season and I’m looking to get better every year,” Casler said.
His two-day total of 161 may not have happened had Wolves head coach Jackson Martin started watching him at the turn on day one.
From coaching the girls to start the morning, he didn’t meet up with Casler until he teed off at No. 10.
What followed was a run on pars that vaulted the right-hander to an opening 18-hole round of 78 to play one more day out east.
“We’re either going to play some good golf or we’re going home,” Martin said. “That competitive edge he has, flipped the switch for him.”
Even though Casler shot five strokes more in his last 18 holes of the season, the growth was beginning to show.
And it all started by using one more club.
“I had a lot of confidence going into state,” Casler said. “It is kind of nice to hit every club in the bag.”
Following the graduation of Centralia star Von Wasson, there’s a gap waiting to be filled for the best golfer in the Evergreen Conference. Could it be Casler? Or maybe his teammate?
Phoenix Flores was on the outside looking in for a state berth. The two Wolves have gotten closer as friends and developed on course chemistry.
“They push each other hard,” Martin said.
Casler made the cut into state by shooting a 167 at the District 4 tourney at Alderbrook Golf Course. That followed an 84 and outside the top-10 placement at the EvCo meet.
Pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit a handful of months later when the stage was at its peak.
“His whole game looked different,” Martin said. “He looked more grown up and comfortable with every shot. I think he can have a big year.”
There won’t be a ton of travel for a potential state trip next spring. Riverside Golf Course in Chehalis will host the 2A boys qualifiers in May, while the girls will be at Tumwater Valley.
To have a 30-minute trek instead of multiple hours will be a welcome sign for Casler.
“A lot of (my) family could go,” he said.
Success to Casler is not overarching amounts of improvement. The way he sees it, one placement higher is improving.
And that’s how he views his goals for the fall.
“That’s the simple goal and next year, the same,” Casler stated.
