Iola High golfers Xander Sellman, Chris Holloway and Brennen Coffield competed on summer tours following Iola High’s spring golf season.
“As a whole, these three have really improved and are really going to be a force to watch out for next year,” said head coach Jeremy Sellman.
Coffield competed in the championship rounds of the Central Links Tour and Kansas City Tours. He finished in the top-30 on each tour and also earned a 10th place finish at Buffalo Dunes Country Club on the Central Links Tour.
A sophomore, Coffield excelled as a freshman, being the lone state qualifier for the Mustangs. One thing Coffield wanted to work on most throughout this summer was his short game, putting and chipping. 
“My short game improved a lot from high school to summer,” said Coffield. “I felt my short game was almost one of my strong suits during summer golf which definitely helped me shoot some lower scores. I was struggling with the short game in the spring.”
Sellman came in sixth place in the season-long points race on the Wichita Junior Tour. He impressed most at the Tex Consoliver Golf Course where he won first place after carding a 79. Sellman has also been in deep talks with Fort Scott Community College’s golf coach and team.
“I constantly think about golf,” Sellman said. “I wake up and look at my 18 holes and I see what I want to do on the course, where I want to play balls, how I want to play them. I look at the conditions and I think about what score I need to be satisfied.”
Sellman said his favorite match was at the Terradyne Golf Course in Wichita.
“My favorite memory was shooting a 79 at Terradyne after taking four free puts, hitting two penalty balls and then taking a nine on a hole,” said Sellman. “Somehow I brought it back to a 79. I birdied seven or eight holes on the course.” 
Holloway wrapped up his summer with a fourth place finish in the season-long points tally on the Wichita Junior Tour. He closed the tour by securing a third place finish at the Tex Consoliver Golf Course.
Holloway said his goals for the summer centered on driving the ball off the tee. After a high school season of shaky driving the senior was able to find his swing and get a good drive down.
“My main goal this summer was to hit a drive consistently,” said Holloway. “I finally can say that I’ve done that. I’m not scared to go up on a tee box anymore. I have a feeling where it’s going to go. I feel like I worked a little harder and earned it more this summer.”
The extra experience of playing a number of different courses and stacking up against new competition is valuable.
The trio pushed each other throughout the spring and summer and are a scary force to go up against on the course. Coach Sellman was most impressed by the level of competition across Kansas and how the boys adjusted to that.
“From what I watched, they dialed in under the pressure,” coach Sellman said. “We knew going in that the goal was to just get better. This was a stepping stone to drive success for next year. They all had great success and they were very competitive. They put the effort out there.”
