Little Tigers start 5-1
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Last year Marshall Crane had his good days and his bad days on the golf course.
This year, he’s striving to be more consistent for the Princeton High golf team.
”I was a little bit erratic last year,” Crane said. “I think my average was right around 41, but I had some scores in the mid 40s and some in the upper 30s. I had a lot of good matches, but I also had some bad matches. My goal for this season has been to be more consistent.”
So far this year Crane has kept his scores consistent in helping the Little Tigers to a 5-1 start. He is feeling like the work he put in last summer has helped him already in the early part of the season.
”I think one of the big things is that my swing is better,” Crane said. “I had a growth spurt last year and I think that threw off my swing some. I made some adjustments to my swing with my coach at Springdale. I played a lot over the summer and in a lot tournaments. I think that helped me.”
With Mercer County champion Fraser Graham at the top of the lineup, Crane is part of the solid group of Little Tigers that hope to make this a successful season. The only loss of the season for Princeton came against Hopewell, a match in which Graham, Crane and Ajay Vellore all shot 39.
”Marshall has been much more consistent this year,” Princeton coach Sheryl Severance said. “Last year he was up and down and you never knew what you were going to get from him. One of the things he has improved on this year is his ability to recover from bad shots. He’s been able to recover from those shots with a good approach shot and then he’ll make a putt.
”He’s playing smarter and knows how to adapt to bad shots.”
As a more consistent player, Crane has had less and less bad shots.
”We’ve played pretty well so far this year even with the bad weather,” Crane said. “We’ve played a couple matches in the rain and it has been cold. Our goal as a team is to make it to sectionals. We know we need to win 60 percent of our matches and we’ve been off to a good start.
”For me, I am hoping to keep my average below 40 and I also want to play well in the tournaments we’re playing in. I just go out there each time and try to do my best.”
So far this year Crane’s best has been pretty good.
”It’s tough because he has big shoes to fill following Fraser in the lineup,” Severance said. “But so far this year he has been right there in the mix with Fraser. Our team has been solid. Fraser is Fraser and Marshall has played well. And our last two matches, Ajay Vellore has shot 39-39 and he was in the mid-40s last year.”
It’s been an encouraging start to the season for the Little Tigers, who hope even better days are ahead.

