The 2021 High School golf season is less than a month away.

Each week, the goal is to preview a local program and the Lexington Wildcats are on the tee today.

Coach Brandon Smith is looking forward to this spring for he has a nice blend of youth experience and age.

“We return our entire line up from 2020,” he said. “We have a good mixture of upper classmen (3 seniors) and good young players (3 freshman).”

The 2020 season was cut short. The season ended in Week 2, but most got preseason work completed.

If you have a chance to get out to watch golf, I strongly recommend supporting the high school golfers. It’s extremely entertaining.

Most of our Midlands courses serve as the home course for 1 or more programs. Check your favorite school’s website for schedules and confirm dates, tee times and logistics at the course.

The Country Club of Lexington is the home course for the Lexington Wildcats.

“With last season being cut short, we are just excited to get back out there and compete,” Smith said, “We have some very talented players and we can’t wait to see the growth of their games since last March.”

Maverick Mullinax, Charlie Beiers, Trustin Wadford and Austen Ellis are all seniors that are playing well heading into the season.

Speaking of local youth playing well, on the Winter Tour, Chapin freshman Chase Cline fired an even par 36 to easily claim medalist honors at Oak Hills in the “Morgan,” “Kleen Sites,” “ Pitner,” and “Turf His Way“ competition divisions at Oak Hills Country Club.

Watching young new golfers engage has been the focus in recent weeks. Today, my suggestion is to observe how they react when missing the ball completely, a foul tip or a grounder.

In most cases, without hesitation, they just swing again. They don’t react in frustration, and typically are unaffected. They just keep swinging until they hit the ball.

When contact impact is made, they are happy.

What’s my point? If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again. And have fun trying.

Speaking of fun and young, three local Recreation Commissions in the Midlands - the Lexington Recreation and Aging Commission, the Richland Country Recreation Commission and the Irmo-Chapin Recreation Commission will all offer Family Junior Golf program this spring.

There are several unique features about this program. Among the main features is the entire family can engage in learning golf together, including mom, dad, siblings and grandparents.

The target age group is ages 4-9 year olds, but 10- 13 year olds are also welcome. The “Learn Through Play” curriculum includes both Swing Skill and On Course Play Strategy Skill. The theme of the program is family fun and spending time together while learning and playing golf.

Registration has opened with start date in late March. Visit these websites to find out more:

http://richlandcountyrecreation.com/fall-golf-programs-at-linrick-golf-course/ , https://sports.bluesombrero.com/lcrac/ .