First, the good news.

Free State High’s girls’ golf team has its top golfer, Ashley Johnson, back for her senior season. A state qualifier last year, Johnson spent her summer playing lots of golf.

The bad? Everyone else didn’t play much.

“They all admitted that their combined total, when you add it all up, it wasn’t as much as Ashley played in a month,” Free State golf coach Steve Grant said.

That doesn’t mean the Firebirds’ cupboard is bare. They return four other seniors and two sophomores that will see ample amounts of varsity tournaments.

Seniors Erin Harrison and Bree Beasley and sophomores Hillary Armstrong and Amanda Enneking already started their season Tuesday at the Washburn Rural Invitational at Lake Shawnee Golf Course. Harrison was third, shooting a 12-over par 48 in the nine-hole event.

Still, for a team with eight total members, most of the pressure is on the diminutive Johnson. Not that the 5-foot-2 golfer is intimidated by anyone who may hit the ball farther. She’s used to that.

“I don’t worry too much about that,” Johnson said. “They do hit the ball farther than I do, but if I hit it straight, that’s all that matters.”

When Johnson joins the rest of the team at today’s Olathe North Invitational at Prairie Highlands Golf Course, she’ll be paying close attention to the course’s nuances. She expects to return Oct. 21 when the Class 6A State Golf Tournament is played there.

Grant hopes the rest of the team just has a shot at joining her when the time comes.

“Hopefully those girls that haven’t played a lot get better and better,” Grant said. “We’re just gonna go and play a lot.”

Lawrence High

Lions coach Mike Lewis doesn’t have one standout to rely on this season, but he has more players to chose from than Free State.

With 13 players on Lawrence High’s roster, Lewis’s team is a little deeper, though not as experienced. There’s no seniors, but the seven juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen all could play in tournaments.

One of his best players, freshman Sydney Wilson, is splitting her time between the golf course and the volleyball court, which opens a spot for other golfers to step in. That kind of freedom makes Lewis hesitate to set a varsity roster.

“It’s gonna change throughout the year,” Lewis said. “With the girls’ schedules and who’s playing well, it’s on a week-by-week basis.”

He expects Wilson and sophomore Whitney Juneau to be two of his top players. They’ve been the two that spent a decent amount of time on the course this summer.

“From Sydney and Whitney down, it’s pretty open,” Lewis said.

Susan Lawhorn, Hailey Griffith and Kelly Jacob are the other three likely varsity golfers heading into today’s season-opening tournament at Prairie Highlands Golf Course in Olathe. For her part, Jacob likes the mix her team has right now, even if the underclassmen are the go-to golfers.

“I’m not intimidated, I’m happy to have them here,” Jacob said.

If any of them can get back to Prairie Highlands for the state tournament, they’ll be even happier.