NATCHEZ — There are five years difference in the age of the youngest and oldest players on the Cathedral boys golf team.

The Green Wave’s two seniors, Logan Young and Haiden Harvey, know the future of the program lies in the smooth swing of seventh grader Chase Kaiser.

In Cathedral’s last tournament last week, Kaiser shot a 2-over 37 in the 9-hole tournament. He has three hole in ones under his belt, and they were all last year at the Beau Pré Country Club, with two off of the 13th tee and one on the 16th tee.

Coach Kurt Russ said Kaiser’s focus on the game is unique for a seventh grader, and he is the kind of player the game of golf needs.

“Chase is eat up with golf,” Russ said. “He practices  all the time and plays through the summer on many tours in Jackson.”

Russ said golf is a dying sport, especially to millennials. Young admits he has a hard time getting into professional golf, unless he is attending the event with his dad. Harvey likes to watch occasionally on a big screen TV.

Russ said, for a lot of his players, golf is a way to get involved in an extracurricular activity at school, and the expense and time consumption of the game makes it hard for young players to commit beyond the season. He harkens back to his 2010 state champion squad.

“My second year as golf coach, we won the state championship. Those guys had been playing their whole lives,” Russ said. “When you find a kid like (Kaiser), it’s rare. I’m glad I have a lot of kids out for it, but the truth is, they’re out to have a sport to play.”

Kaiser is around the game a lot at a young age. The Beau Pré Country Club is nearly in his backyard. He was able to catch some of the pros on the SwingThought Tour play at the recent event two weeks ago. He plays in tournaments on a youth tour in Jackson during the summer. He’s been playing for over half of his life; his dad and grandfather taught him to play when he was 6 years old.

Kaiser isn’t afraid of failure, which so often scares away young players from the game of golf.

“You just have to forget about that shot you hit, and think about the next one you’ll hit,” Kaiser said. “If it’s out of play, you have to take your penalty and go with it. It’s one hole out of the 18 holes.”

Russ will turn to the size of his eight-man squad this season. He said depth could be an advantage during tournaments since a lot of players will contribute and only the two lowest scores count toward the tournament. Kaiser can’t contribute both counting scores for Cathedral each tournament.

Players are optimistic about this year’s squad.

“We’re better than we were last year and much better than the year before last,” Young said.

Russ said overall he is trying to develop his boys squad. He said he can’t teach his kids everything, and he can’t turn a new golfer into a scratch golfer, but he and his coaching staff will provide patient coaching to players who have the desire to grow as golfers.

“I’d say we spend more time with the team than any other program,” Russ said. “We try to teach them the etiquette of the game.”