Caldwell having strong season, gunning for state title

CHAMBERLAIN — Senior Coleman Caldwell’s objective is as simple as a state title.

“That’s been my goal for a long time,” he said Thursday afternoon, two days after winning his third high school golf tournament of the year.

Caldwell, who took 16th at the state tournament as a junior, claimed championships this season at the Big Dakota Conference meet, the Chamberlain Invitational and the Parkston Invitational Tuesday at Lakeview Golf Course in Mitchell.

Chamberlain boys’ golf coach Travis Koehn, a first-year head coach, said Caldwell is definitely capable of winning a state championship.

“My goal for him is to go out and play the best he can at every tournament,” Koehn said. “He’s been doing that so far, and I really think he has a shot at winning the state title. He has the game to win.”

Caldwell has made changes in the way he approaches the course, and he also believes he needs to perfect his game before the start of the state tournament, a two-day event that starts Oct. 1 in Spearfish.

“I’ve been playing consistent golf and not getting upset about little things,” Caldwell said. “I used to let bad shots get to me and it would ruin the rest of my round. Now I’m taking things one stroke at a time.”

Besides the mental part of golf, Caldwell is also working on his short game to get ready for state.

“I can drive the ball far, but I need to get better on chipping and getting on the green,” he said.

Golfing in high school wasn’t the start of Caldwell’s career. He been playing varsity since his seventh-grade year, but he’s been playing the sport ever since he could stand up.

“I started playing when I was 1 ½ years old,” Caldwell said. “My dad is the one that bought me clubs and cut them down to my size. I grabbed a club and swung. He saw that I had a perfect swing, so I started golfing.”

From his toddler days to working for a state title, Caldwell has yet another goal for after his days of golfing for Chamberlain are over.

“I’m trying to get a Division I scholarship basically anywhere,” Caldwell said. “I would like to stay in South Dakota but won’t mind if I end up out of state. I just want to play golf somewhere.”

Koehn said Caldwell is likely to achieve all of his goals because of the type of person and player he is.

“He’s a wonderful player to coach and he’s great in all aspects,” Koehn said. “He’s a great team leader and is always willing to help younger players. It’s been a real pleasure working with him this season.”

Chamberlain competes in its final meet of the regular season at the Winner Invitational at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Winner.

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