WARDEN – The Warden Cougars boys golf team earned fourth place at the 2B state golf tournament at MeadowWood Golf Course in Spokane last week.
“It was a cool experience getting to go up a day early and getting to go through the course with golf carts,” said Cougar’s golfer Jaden Hernandez. “It’s a lot playing on a course like that and having to take things serious.”
The Cougars had three boys qualify for state: Hernandez, Everett Cox and JJ Madsen. The par for MeadowWood Golf Course is 72 and it spans 6,728 yards.
Cox finished the first round with a score of 106 and did not play on day two; Madsen finished the tournament on day two with an overall score of 178 and Hernandez finished the tournament with a score of 170. Hernandez tied for 19th and Madsen earned 21st in the tournament, earning the team their fourth-place spot.
“It was cool to go up as a freshman and go up against the top dogs in the state,” said Cox.
This year was the first year since 1993 that the golf team has earned a trophy at the state level, said Cougars head coach Tim Carlberg. This year’s team also earned an award for having the highest GPA out of all the other 2B varsity teams in the state
“The guys got better as the year went on,” said Carlberg. “We peaked at the right time, which was at the end of the season.”
Carlberg said that the success of the team this season is in part thanks to the generosity of Sage Hills Golf Course for allowing the students to use the course to both practice and play on.
The Cougars are made up of mostly younger players, with the state golfers Cox and Madsen being freshmen and Hernandez a sophomore, but each of them has had a few years of experience with the sport.
“Two years ago, during the summer, my brother and cousin went out on the course, and I went with them,” said Cox. “From there, I started to really like it.”
Hernandez grew up around the sport with his dad and friends and one day decided to go out and give it a try in eighth grade. From there he started going out to golfing clubs and joined the high school team as a freshman.
Madsen said he had a similar experience as he would go out on the golf course with his father when he was younger and once he was in eighth grade decided to try it out, ended up enjoying it and has continued to improve his game since.
The golfers are very proud of the success they had this season, earning second in both districts and subdistricts before their fourth-place finish at the state tournament. They said they learned a lot from their time playing this year, going on trips and getting the opportunity to play on a variety of different courses.
“It was a fun year, and we experienced a lot of growth since last year,” said Madsen. “I hope to continue our growth and place higher next year.”
Each of the state golfers plans on returning next year, and Carlberg said that he is seeing a lot of start-ups in the younger students as they move up.
“The team is young and will continue to string together in the years to come,” said Carlberg.
WRDN:
Player R1/R2 Total
Jaden Hernandez 84/86 170
JJ Madsen 84/94 178
Everett Cox 106/x x
Warden boys Varsity Golf Roster 2025
Jaden Hernandez – Sophomore
JJ Madsen – Freshman
Everett Cox – Freshman
Raul Lepe – Senior
Soren Clausen – Freshman
Jaxsen Erickson – Freshman
Jordan Martinez – Freshman
Jacob Pruneda – Freshman
Angel Silva – Freshman
Aiden Castro – Sophomore
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