Senior Leo Kroeger has been golfing for almost his entire life. Four of those years have been spent at Westside. Kroeger picked up the game from his dad and was able to get out on the green in elementary school.
“I was eight years old. So I’ve almost been playing all my life. Basically, as long as you can pick up a club, I mean, just start out and join the game. My dad got me into it,” Kroeger said. “I was fortunate enough to be a member at OCC so I can go out with my dad and my brothers and play all the time.”
Kroeger really fell in love with the sport when he came to Westside.
“I really started getting serious about golf around freshman year,” Kroeger said. “I picked up a swing coach, and I really just obviously practiced after school every day, and from there I just fell in love with it even more and just wanted to get better.”
When Kroeger came to Westside he was already familiar with coach Jered Hellman.
“I coached Leo’s older brother, Chase. I was the JV boys golf coach when Chase came through [and] I went to high school with Leo’s parents, so I’ve known of Leo, or met Leo, probably several times when he was little,” Hellman said. “So I was excited about having Leo on the golf team. Being the JV coach his freshman year, I got to see him out there.”
Kroeger has grown with the program and has learned a lot since he started at Westside. Hellman reflects on the work he has put in throughout his entire career.
“His frustration would come out on the golf courses, and goal control maybe wasn’t the best that it should be. So we’ve worked on a lot of strategies with things like that to the point where that was his goal,” Hellman said. “Now we’re beyond that and Leo conducts amazingly on the golf course. He is seasoned out there now and now our goals are more golf-related.”
Coaching Kroeger, Hellman has helped him work on his mental toughness and stay in the game during all 18 holes.
“Making smart decisions on the golf course, keeping in it for 18 holes, which is a mental grind out there. I mean, there’s no other sport where an athlete is expected to be locked in for five hours,” Hellman said. “It’s just tough, and we play our golf courses and the competition top to bottom. Our golfers all know if they don’t play well, that could hurt their chances moving forward.”
When Kroeger came up to Westside the staff did not know what to expect from him as a golfer.
“We didn’t know was Leo going to be one of our JV guys that just, you know, cruises around and has a nice golf game, or if this a kid that’s going to dive in,” Hellman said. “Leo dove in head first, and he has spent an inordinate amount of time between his swing coach, working on his mental game, working on time management, all of the above to get to where he is to compete.”
Hellman is impressed by the growth that Kroeger has put in throughout his entire career.
“Getting to see Leo grow on his journey to now becoming a senior is amazing,” Hellman said. “We’ve worked a lot together as a team, and we’ve developed a team for Leo,” Hellman said.
Focusing on this season Kroeger is really trying hard to battle for a varsity position while playing his best game of golf.
“I didn’t know, six or seven spots are extremely close. And I think after our first couple days of practice and scores were being recorded, we were like three strokes in between the last guy for the top five to play in varsity events,” Kroeger said. “So this whole season is definitely going to be a grind, specifically in those three spots, trying to battle for one spot in the varsity events.”
“I think after this season that this will one of the most talented golf teams in the history of the state of Nebraska, and he’s right there,” Hellman said.
One goal Kroeger has is to make it back to the state championship and relive the past state titles the team has won.
“I think the biggest goal for me right now is being able to experience state golf again,” Kroeger said.
After four years at Westside, Kroeger will remember the time when he went to state as a varsity golfer for the first time.
“I think my favorite memory would probably be the first time I went to state. Finishing my first my very first round, I shot 80, and that score was taken. From there, we won the state tournament. So contributing in the state title my first year playing golf as a varsity player,” Kroeger said.
Kroeger has one piece of advice for the future golfers at Westside.
“Come prepared. Obviously the coaches like it. Sometimes the weather is going to be bad, so you want to stay warm, and playing well is pretty hard to do when you’re not warm,” Kroeger said.
