Steamboat Springs — The best part, coach Andrew Donner said, is watching the young golfers work together on Steamboat Springs’ PGA Junior all-star squad.

The team, made of players from all four Steamboat Springs golf courses as well as Craig’s Yampa Valley Golf Course, started it’s postseason play Monday and came away with a win. The team defeated a Grand Junction squad 8-4.

“As coaches, we can only talk to the kids between holes,” Donner said. “They get out there — 11 years old — and they’re all reading putts together, talking about what shot to hit and throwing grass up in the air. It’s fun to watch.”

The competition originated with 10-player teams from each local course playing nine-hole, two-player scrambles against one another throughout the season.

After that, a team was selected to represent the region going forward and against teams from other areas.

The first opponent up — and in turn the first opponent down — was Grand Junction.

Things were tight early, but Steamboat pulled away as the holes added up.

“We’re really proud of the kids,” Donner said. “Wow, they played great. They hit the ball down the middle. They made putts. It was really fun to watch them get out there and do it.”

Next up for the team is likely a home date Friday against a team from the Vail Valley. It’ll be the first home appearance for the squad since it started playing in the program last summer.

The team this year is composed of Ollie Rotermund, Max Rotermund, Beck Kuhlman, Mike Dinapoli, Travis Seitz, Hayden Magnuson, Charlie Thompson, Jake Larson, Ryan Peck and Dave Andujo.

Sailors show improvement

It wasn’t a perfect day for the Steamboat Springs High School golf team Tuesday, but Donner, the team’s coach, said the squad improved after a slow start to the season in a tournament Monday.

The team played Tuesday at EagleVail Golf Course in its second tournament of the season, placing second overall and first among Class 4A teams.

“We were a little better,” Donner said. “The nice thing is this has given us a really good opportunity to see what we need to work on.”

What does the team need to work on, then?

Donner said there’s the most room for improvement inside about 75 yards.

“We really need to tighten up our short game,” he said. “We’re leaving a lot of shots out there. That’s something we can work on. We’re hitting the ball well enough to put up the scores we need to put up, but we’re probably not as good as other teams there, so we need to find another way to make up for that. The short game is where we need to find that rhythm and start getting the ball in the hole quicker.”

Jacob Taulman led the team with a score of 83. Jack Rotermund shot an 85, Jack McNamara an 89, Tommy Henninger a 94 and Nolan Sankey a 95.

The team plays again Wednesday, this time at Gypsum Creek Golf Course in a meet in which Eagle Valley High School will play host.

To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 970-871-4253, email jreichenberger@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @JReich9