Dump is home for golf team

By GREG STILES

With all the wonderful golf courses etched into Jackson County's terrain, one has to wonder about the place Prospect High's golf team calls home.

We're not talking about a real course here. Rather, a grassy patch of land that this time last year served as the community dump.

At first, Prospect's foursome -- senior Lytton Reid, sophomore Keith Howard and freshmen Jamie Goldsmith and Cara Tompkins -- used the school's athletic field as a driving range. But once baseball and softball got under way the options narrowed.

Coach Mike Westfall could load up his pickup and drive down Highway 62 to the valley. Or get creative.

The local dump -- a long tee shot to the east of the Prospect Ranger District office where Westfall works -- closed down eight months ago.

"The time factor is the basic reason why we don't go down," Westfall says. "We went down to the V.A. Domiciliary course (in White City) a couple of times. But basically, we've just thrown them into the fire."

While it sounds like a place where you can really stink it up, the old dump has a certain charm.

"Once it was smoothed over and the grass came up, it was pretty nice," Westfall says. "The kids do get a few laughs when they tell the other players where they practice."

There's plenty of room for long-ball hitters and lots of space for hooks and slices.

"You can hit about 300 yards and usually find your ball," Westfall says. "I had one boy who was kind of putting 'em in the woods. I just told him to lighten up a little and use a different club."

The dump functions well as a practice range when stakes are driven into the ground 100 or 150 yards away. But it's not hard to heighten interest.

"We'll use a pitching wedge or a 7-iron and see who can get the most shots around a particular tree or a stake out there," Westfall says.

Of course, the dump doesn't afford much opportunity for chipping and putting. And that necessitates trips to the Domiciliary course.

Westfall's daughter, Goldsmith, sparked the effort to field a team. The school was last represented on the links in 1990 by Scott Young. There was some thought about running a cooperative program with Eagle Point. Ultimately, Prospect decided to go it alone.

Cedar Links provided clubs at a nominal cost and three hours of instruction from one of its pros.

When Prospect joined the rest of the region's middle-sized and small schools in weekly tournaments, the Cougars were pleasantly surprised.

"They weren't the worst, they weren't the best," Westfall says. "Their confidence was pretty high, once they saw the other individuals."

Howard has emerged as one of the better boy players in District 6. A top-four finish in the district tournament Friday at Cedar Links Golf Club would qualify Howard for the Class 3A-2A-1A tournament, May 18-19, at Eagle Crest Resort outside Redmond.

With an enrollment of roughly 60 students, many of the students are already involved in sports. But Westfall says the Cougars may well have enough players to compete as a team next spring.

CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT: The Oregon School Activities Association executive board Monday accepted the state championship committee's report with a dozen amendments.

As far as the Southern Oregon Conference is concerned, the most notable amendment is in football. Three teams from each Class 4A district with 8-10 schools will get three berths in the playoffs with a fourth-place slot rotated. The SOC and Midwestern League will get three teams next season.

Class 3A districts with seven or more schools (the Skyline Conference has eight) will pick up a fourth football playoff berth in a rotation that begins next fall. Three baseball, basketball and softball teams will advance to the state playoffs beginning next year.

The Class 3A boys and girls tournaments will be combined at a site to be determined.

Class 3A-2A-1A soccer districts will also qualify three teams to the state playoffs.

The executive board also fined Ashland High an undisclosed amount following its third violation in four years.

The latest infraction came when three softball pitchers threw two innings apiece for a collegiate club softball team.

"One of the assistant coaches thought the team couldn't participate, but that individuals could," Ashland athletic director Jim Nagel said.