Jim Hoffman says he is excited about the upcoming high school girls’ golf season.

The reason for the Seymour girls’ golf coaches’ excitement is because he has his entire team back from last fall.

“I’m excited. The girls worked hard all summer,” Hoffman said. “They’ve been out here from the spring and all through the summer hitting the ball,” he said as he begins his eighth year as head coach of the Lady Owls.

“We have the same nucleus of girls, and they have that experience now.”

Seniors Katie Cottrill and Emily Windley are beginning their fourth year of playing, Emmy Followell is the only junior on the team, and the sophomores are Caroline Dennis and Shana Spray.

Cottrill had the low 9-hole average on the team last fall at 47.2, and she had Seymour’s low score in the sectional (97) to advance to the regional.

Spray had Seymour’s 18-hole average last year at 99.1, and she finished 11th in the Hoosier Hills Conference tournament to miss honorable mention status by one spot.

Hoffman said Spray is No. 1 “score wise. Shana gets the ball in the hole. Sometimes it’s more about getting the ball in the hole and that’s what we need to learn to do.

“Too many times they worry about their shot versus just getting it in the hole,” Hoffman said.

Followell averaged 52 and Windley averaged 58, and they were co-recipients of the Owls (sportsmanship) Award last fall, and Dennis was named the team’s most improved player last fall when she averaged 55 for nine holes.

“We went through a lot last year with all the tournaments, and all the practices and all the matches, and I expect us to make a big jump early and hold onto that and just keep improving,” Hoffman said.

“I can tell right now that that we’re a lot further ahead than we were last year,” he said on the first day of practice at Shadowood Golf Course. “I wish we had more time for official practices, but that’s part of it.”

“Shana played well over the summer. Katie was right there. Katie hits it a long way, and we need to get Katie’s short game leveled out. Emily’s in her fourth year and Caroline’s in her second year. Emmy is a really good athlete. She’s been playing a lot this summer taking lessons.

“Their experience is going to be beneficial.” He said the Owls improved mentally as the 2023 season progressed.

The Owls were fifth in the HHC last year and had their lowest tournament score of the year, 384 in the HHC at Timbergate. They placed fourth in the sectional.

“I’m looking forward to the year,” Hoffman said. “We’re going to start where we ended up last year and go from there. They always come to the course with a smile on their face, they’re ready to go and that is the main thing.”

The Owls will open their season Monday in the Bloomington South Tournament, an 18-team event that is played at Bloomington Country Club, and Hoffman said several state-ranked teams will be in that event.

He said, “We want to play against the best. That is what’s going to make us better. If we score 380, we’ll be happy. The greens there always get us. They are way faster than what we’re used to.”

Tuesday the Owls will host Brownstown Central, Trinity Lutheran and five other schools for the Seymour Invitational, beginning at 9 a.m.

“I think we should be below 360 or 370,” Hoffman said.