High school golf: Morang is Ramblers’ ace

LEEDS — Taylor Morang consistently shoots in the mid-30s for nine holes and the mid-70s over 18 at his home golf course, Springbrook.

Stand at any location on that sprawling layout and the safe assumption is that any high school player bringing the course to its knees must be a hulking, strapping soul who got lost on his way to football practice.

Then up walks Morang, the top of his golf bag more than waist-high as the Winthrop High School junior sets it on its tripod.

“Five-(foot)-six on a good day,” Morang estimated. “If you want to say 130 (pounds), that would be generous.”

No matter. Nobody in the Mountain Valley Conference, at least through the first three matches of this young, weather-interrupted season, towers over Morang’s distance, accuracy or mental approach to the game.

Morang opened the season with a 36 against Carrabec at Lakewood Country Club. At home, he carded a blistering 33 and a 39 in wins over Mountain Valley and Oak Hill.

And the Ramblers, like their rock-solid No. 1, are 3-0.

“That’s less than everybody else is going to shoot by quite a bit, so now your No. 2 guy doesn’t have to be as good and more than likely your No. 4 guy doesn’t have to be as good,” Winthrop coach Lonney Steeves said. “My expectation with Taylor is just to play well. Then if the other guys shoot high-70s, low 80s, we can be very, very tough.”

Morang has been the starting point guard on the Winthrop basketball team since the first game of his freshman year. He takes that thinking man’s approach to the links, as well.

He is a member at Springbrook, having followed older brother Easton there since taking up the sport at the age of 7.

His scores and handicap have dropped with steady work around the green.

“That’s a scoring area. If you get that down, it all comes a little bit easier. I practice quite a bit here,” Morang said while standing in the center of Springbrook’s practice green. “I learn a lot from reading books. I read Tiger Woods’ book all the time. I use drills that (Steeves) gives me. A lot of different drills.”

“Last year he wasn’t a great putter. He’s now gotten himself to be a very good putter,” Steeves added. “The rest of his game is just solid. He hits it a ton, he hits it straight, and he hits it close to the hole.”

Morang didn’t have to embrace the role of leader before this season, but he performed like one from the get-go.

So far, the highlight of Morang’s career was a hole-in-one in the individual state meet at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro his freshman year.

“I don’t remember much. That was crazy. I was just lucky to be playing in the individual states,” Morang said. “It was the 12th hole, a big par-3 downhill. I landed the ball two or three feet past (the pin) and backed it up a little bit.”

Morang finished that round with 83. Even without an ace on his card, he improved to 78 as a sophomore.

The Ramblers’ team goal is to unseat St. Dom’s as MVC champion. The winner of the league’s post-season tournament will earn an automatic bid to the team state meet.

“You just don’t know. All sports are the same. On any given day the most bizarre thing can possibly happen,” Steeves said. “And the other thing with golf is here we are, 85 degrees today. The days that we’re going to compete for the state championships are going to be 40, windy. The course is going to be under water. There are going to be leaves all over the place.”

But in much the same way that his game translates to courses of all size and shape, Morang isn’t bothered by those other variables, either.

“He’s more consistent off the tee,” Steeves said. “More than anything else it’s consistency in all parts of his game. I just think it’s maturity, too.”

“Not many people realize it,” added Morang, “but the mental part of the game plays the biggest role.”

Along those lines, Morang already is looking into schools at which he can extend his playing career.

He’s also thinking beyond that. Big and tall aspirations, of course.

“I’d like to do something in golf in college, not just playing, but working in the golf industry,” Morang said. “That would be cool.”

koakes@sunjournal.com

: Winthrop junior Taylor Morang qualified for the state individual golf championships each of his first two seasons. He sank a hole-in-one in the event as a freshman and broke 80 as a sophomore. Now he has individual and team championships in his sights.