The 2023 golf season brought steady improvement for junior Kaden Kopsa. With struggles in the early season leading all the way through sectionals and ending at districts, Kopsa ends his junior golf campaign with newfound knowledge and high pressure tournament experience.

Kopsa came into the season rusty after a winter hiatus from the sport to no fault of his own. Before the snowfall, Kaden could be spotted golfing on a near daily basis. This love for the game came from an early age. Kopsa credits his dad for his love of golf.

“My dad is a big golfer. I’ve learned a lot from him,” he said.

After being introduced to the game around the age of 10, he played for fun until around age 13. That’s when golf became a serious game for Kaden Kopsa, spending countless hours every summer since on the green, improving pieces of his game.

This season Kopsa had a clear goal, qualify for state. Kopsa knew making state golf as an individual qualifier is very difficult and practiced hard while still enjoying time at practice with friends. One of his favorite memories from this season was getting a hole in one during practice on hole four in front of his friends.

“It’s about 155 yards. I was with Daniel and Matt (Wiese) during practice. Daniel actually has a hole in one last year on the same hole,” he said.

With momentum building, Kopsa qualified out of sectionals to districts. Kopsa ultimately came up short of his goal of making state but has cemented his legacy as one of South Tama’s best golfers in recent memory. Kopsa returns next year as a senior in hopes of realizing a dream of qualifying for state golf and furthering his legacy.

Kaden would like to thank his coaches, teammates, and parents for their unwavering support and great memories made this season.