It’s quite the contradiction, golfing in a library, but it happens at Greece Olympia and golf coach Rob DuPrau is hoping the offseason work benefits his club this season.

The Spartans continued their tradition of running winter golf by chipping, putting and practicing their short game in the library and wrestling room at the high school. They keep stats and work to improve on a weekly basis. DuPrau hopes the hard work translates to the real course.

The team is coming off a 15-5 season. They graduated some top talent including Jenna Hoecker who is playing at Stetson University and Ryan Grace who was in the top four.

But the Spartans have some very solid players returning which should lead to success.
Junior Chris Hoecker is back and should be the No. 1 golfer for Olympia as he averaged around a 41 last season.

“He put in a lot of time and I expect some real big things from him,” DuPrau said.

Dan Giordano will also be competing for the top spot as a senior returner. Senior Brandon Cox and junior Matt Hanna, who has been with the team since the seventh grade, are also important pieces of the puzzle.

There are also some new players, including a freshman and a sophomore who have been getting better and could be impact players by the time the season is through.

“We have a lot of good athletes on the team,” DuPrau said. “We will need our top four to play well while the new players get used to the varsity game. We have a tough schedule but we are eager to compete.”

The Spartans have been able to play outside several times in preparation for the season. Their opener with Brighton and Canandaigua was rained out this week.

DuPrau credits the Greece Cup on April 11, which includes Athena and Arcadia, as a good test in a college tournament setting early in the season.