It’s 2 p.m. on a weekday afternoon, and senior Austin Willis is on the Beech Woods golf course, instead of attending Physics class. And it happens often that high school golf matches conflict with school.

What’s a golfer to do?

Golf team members just have to make up the work and make arrangements with their teachers, said Golf Coach Milton Jones.

It’s not possible for golf team members to be in school and on the links at the same time.

The Oakland County Golf Tournament was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in Pontiac on Monday, May 5, so the golfers in the tournament had to miss school that day. The league match is also scheduled during school time with a noon tee time on Monday, May 19.

Regular golf matches start around 3 p.m., requiring golfers to miss afternoon classes.

Senior golfer Willis says he makes an effort to get his assignments ahead of time. “Best thing to do is to stay on top of assignments, constantly study and continue to work. Also make sure you attend practice and pay attention to what the coaches tell you.”

The only consolation is that others high school golfers face the same challenges, Jones says.

So far this season the golf team has defeated Ferndale High School but lost twice to Harrison High School.

The team’s top players this year are senior James Davis and sophomore David Palmer.

The team has five seniors (Willis, Davis, Joseph Clark, Darrin Grandison and Demetrius Jackson), one junior (Anthony Springer) and three sophomores (Palmer, Adrian Springer and Jacob McGee).

Coach Jones said he is happy to have a range of ages and grades on the team.