Star Valley High School Golf Coach Kelly Fullmer called into First Bank of Wyoming Sports Friday on July 15 to preview the 2025 fall golf season. The Braves open the season on August 14 with their home invitation at Valli Vu Golf Course in Afton.

(0:00) Talking high school golf with the season just about to begin. (0:05) The Star Valley High School golf coach, Kelly Fulmer, (0:07) now joins us live over the phone. (0:09) Coach Fulmer, good morning, how are you today? (0:13) Good morning, doing great, thank you.
(0:14) Thank you, Kelly, for joining us this morning. (0:16) You know, Duke just noted it as we started the show. (0:19) Your season starts in three weeks.
(0:22) So, I mean, pretty, it’s coming right up. (0:26) Obviously, you probably already had some contact (0:28) and doing what you gotta do in the off season in the summer. (0:30) And we always seem to bring up this point (0:33) when it comes to high school golf, (0:35) but it always does seem to just kind of come out (0:37) of nowhere in the dark and let you know, (0:40) hey, the season is already here.
(0:42) Does it feel that way to you as a coach? (0:44) Boy, it really does, it makes the summer short. (0:47) It turns July into a preseason almost. (0:51) We’ve already done our golf camp.
(0:52) We took a bunch of varsity players over to Evanston (0:57) earlier this month where we played the course for two days (1:00) because that’s where we’ll need to qualify (1:01) for the state tournament. (1:02) So, it feels like the season’s already begun to me. (1:07) Coach, what happens, I mean, (1:09) when do you guys begin practices? (1:11) What’s kind of your season looking like (1:13) heading into the home invitational (1:15) to open things up on the 13th of August? (1:18) Well, our schedule kind of makes the point (1:20) you’re trying to make.
(1:21) We begin on August 11th. (1:23) That’s our first day of practice. (1:25) And that’s a week before the other sports begin.
(1:27) So, we are beginning a week before any other sport. (1:31) We have two practices, August 11th and 12th. (1:33) And then we’re to our first tournament on August 13th.
(1:36) And that will be an invite here at Star Valley. (1:40) And that’s actually gotta be kind of nice at least (1:43) because a lot of times in years past (1:46) that first event is not a home event. (1:49) Yeah, in the past we’ve had to drive (1:51) as far as Powell to play.
(1:52) But the schedule that’s kind of administered (1:56) by the Wyoming High School Activity Association (1:58) has kind of got the state into quadrants. (2:00) And our schedule’s normalized a bit more (2:02) where we’re playing more in the Southwest area courses. (2:06) And we seem to have settled into that first week.
(2:08) So, it works really well for us. (2:10) Coach, who do you have coming to that home invitational? (2:11) Who’s your competition that weekend? (2:14) We’re gonna have everybody from the West there. (2:18) It’ll be, if I’m looking here in our schedule, (2:21) we’ve got Rock Springs, Cameron, Lyman, (2:23) Pinedale, Evanston, Jackson, Green River.
(2:25) They’ll all be coming in. (2:27) And we’re looking to have a strong team out of this quadrant. (2:30) I think we’re gonna be one of the stronger teams (2:32) in this part of the state this year.
(2:35) Well, talking about that, you know, (2:36) you look at some of the, let’s start with your girls (2:39) because you had the 4A state champ, Jordan Horsley, (2:42) of course, was a tremendous player, (2:45) won the 4A last year, going to play at Metro State. (2:47) So, you lose her, you lose someone like Cambrie Johnson, (2:51) who’s also a senior, but you’ve got a lot of returners (2:54) as well, tell us about them. (2:56) Yeah, losing the two seniors we did, (2:58) and that’s tough to replace.
(3:00) You don’t replace seniors like that easily. (3:03) And of course, Jordan, as our state champion, (3:05) who won by 10 strokes here at home, (3:09) going to play college golf, and Cambrie beginning golf, (3:12) you know, right at high school, (3:13) and then improving so quickly. (3:15) Those two are great leaders and great girls, (3:17) and we’re really going to miss them.
(3:19) But we do have three returning varsity girls coming back, (3:23) Kate Ricks, Amelia Green, Pailin Merritt, (3:25) and we’ve got some other girls joining them. (3:28) So, we’re loading back up with the girls, (3:30) and we’re going to be very competitive on the girls’ side. (3:33) Who do you have with you on the boys’ side this year, coach? (3:37) Well, we lost two seniors as well with the boys, (3:40) two really good players, Aiden Decora and Sean Stout.
(3:43) They were both solid players who could shoot (3:46) in the 70s anywhere we went, (3:48) and it’s tough to replace them, (3:50) but you have to in foray, especially with boys. (3:52) You need an entire team who can shoot those scores (3:56) just to be competitive. (3:57) But we have a freshman coming back.
(3:59) Deegan Hill was our next in scoring average last year, (4:03) and he’ll just be a sophomore next year. (4:05) We expect him to be joined by returning starters, (4:08) Kellen Stout, Bran Fulmer, Dalton Decora, Braxton Johnson, (4:12) and we have some J players (4:13) who have been putting in a lot of work this summer (4:15) and hoping to crack into that varsity spots as well. (4:18) You know, Kel, you go back 12 months and golf, (4:21) and we even touched on it then, (4:22) and it turned out to be the case.
(4:25) But we talked about how golf in particular, (4:27) since you do start before everyone else (4:29) and your season ends before everyone else, (4:31) that you are going to kind of be the guinea pig (4:33) in the 4A West when it comes to this. (4:36) Last year was the first school year (4:38) with the uneven East-West thing (4:41) and how it might impact you (4:42) in terms of qualification for state, (4:45) and Star Valley’s boys ended up being (4:47) kind of the first guinea pig sacrifice of that. (4:51) You had three individuals qualify for state, (4:53) but as a team did not get to go.
(4:56) And you talk about all these players coming back, (4:59) and has that served as some extra motivation for these kids, (5:02) do you feel like, since last fall? (5:06) Oh, it really has, you know, (5:08) and you remembering that I think is important (5:11) because the West has eight teams to qualify for four spots. (5:15) The East has seven teams to qualify for four spots. (5:18) And there’s a school on the Eastern side (5:20) that is just traditionally not competitive at all.
(5:24) They don’t even come close. (5:26) So it’s essentially six teams on the East (5:29) trying to qualify for four spots, (5:32) while we have a competitive eight schools over here (5:34) trying to get down to four. (5:35) So being on the bubble last year in Casper, (5:39) where we just got edged out by Riverton (5:41) and didn’t get to play with our whole team (5:43) here at state in Star Valley.
(5:45) Yeah, you could say that was some motivation for us. (5:48) Let’s talk about a high school golf coach, Kelly Fulmer, (5:50) joining us this morning (5:51) on First Bank of Wyoming Sports Friday. (5:53) Speaking of going into the 4A class, coach, (5:55) we talked about this a couple of years ago (5:56) when golf went up to 4A from 3A, (5:59) and we talked about trying to build that depth (6:02) and the extra development and being able to compete.
(6:04) You mentioned now that you feel like your teams (6:06) and your program is in a spot where on this Western side, (6:10) you’re pretty confident in your ability to compete (6:12) and be one of the top programs. (6:14) Talk to us about that developmental process (6:17) over the course of a 4A program (6:19) over the course of multiple years to get to that point (6:22) to be a top school in the 3A (6:24) to now be a top school in 4A. (6:28) Yeah, you used the word development and that’s really key.
(6:32) All the players on our varsity for boys and girls, (6:36) we’ve known since they were little kids (6:37) coming up through junior golf (6:39) and the Idaho junior golf they participated in. (6:44) You just don’t show up your freshman year (6:46) as an athletic kid and succeed at golf. (6:49) It’s something you have to have been playing for a long time.
(6:52) We have kids who can show up and play pretty well, (6:54) but especially in the 4A ranks, (6:56) you just can’t win or compete just by being good. (7:00) Whereas I think when we were the largest school in 3A, (7:04) when we were good, we were always near the top. (7:07) But now when we’re good, (7:08) we’re closer to the middle in 4A.
(7:11) So it’s gonna take a really good squad (7:14) to win on the 4A side against schools that are twice (7:18) and two and a half times our size. (7:20) But I really feel good about where we’re at (7:23) with our program for the girls and the boys, (7:25) what we have now and what we have coming up. (7:28) Our varsity ranks for the boys (7:30) are gonna be full of underclassmen and juniors this year.
(7:33) Next year looks good as well. (7:35) When you look at that, (7:37) and Duke talking about the development, (7:39) one of the nice things about Star Valley area (7:41) is you have multiple courses to kind of hone your skills on. (7:45) Of course, you got Valley View and Afton, (7:46) and then you got three on the ranch (7:49) with Cedar Creek, Aspen Hills, (7:53) Cedar Creek, and then the RV course.
(7:56) Do you encourage your kids to go try all these courses (7:58) to kind of get a different taste, (8:00) or do they end up kind of just sitting on their home course, (8:03) whatever one that might be? (8:06) No, our players all take advantage of that. (8:10) Cedar Creek at Star Valley Ranch, (8:12) they offer a junior price just like (8:14) they do in Afton and Valley View. (8:15) So it makes it affordable for these kids (8:17) to play these other courses.
(8:19) And outside of Jackson Hole, (8:20) that has a lot of private courses, (8:22) which again are not available for public use. (8:25) I don’t know of a place in Wyoming (8:27) that has more golf courses than Star Valley does. (8:30) So yeah, that is something that our kids (8:32) are able to go play.
(8:33) Of course, the Andy Johnson is at the resort course (8:36) in Star Valley Ranch this week, (8:38) and that’s kind of an executive, shorter course, (8:40) and we know how difficult Cedar is, (8:43) and Aspen Hills is a very unique nine. (8:46) So you combine all those with Valley View, (8:48) and our kids do get a wide variety of exposure (8:51) when it comes to playing multiple style of courses. (8:54) Of course, we talked about your season opening (8:57) with the home invitational on the 13th of August, (8:59) then the sprint begins.
(9:00) You are at Lander, at Rock Springs, at Green River, (9:04) and then you’re right into regionals. (9:06) You mentioned having to qualify for state in Evanston, (9:08) where regionals will be held, (9:09) with state being held at Cheyenne Central. (9:11) When it goes through the course (9:13) of a very quick season like that, (9:16) we talk about this with track and cross country as well, (9:21) trying to hit those benchmarks (9:22) over the course of the season, (9:23) and being ready to peak at the right time.
(9:25) How do you do that as a golf coach (9:27) to try and have your kids ready (9:29) through such a short season, peaking at post-season? (9:33) Yeah, I think we do share a lot in common (9:35) with other individual sports that have shorter seasons. (9:39) It’s tough in a six-week season to fix things. (9:43) Our kids come in at the skill level they’re at, (9:45) and it becomes a lot more of strategy and mental (9:49) than it does actually trying (9:50) to have somebody do something different.
(9:52) Because if you take a golf swing (9:54) and have them start to make a fundamental change (9:55) in week two, it’s not as if in week five (9:58) they’re gonna be fixed and playing well (9:59) when they’ve been doing something their whole life (10:01) that maybe is holding them back (10:02) or causing them some problems. (10:05) In a basketball season, you talk to a coach, (10:07) and they may say, we’re gonna get this fixed (10:09) over the next few games, and we’re gonna come around. (10:11) But yeah, like with cross country and golf, (10:14) our skill level is pretty much what it is when it starts.
(10:17) And the way we improve is through strategy, (10:22) mental, and trying to get those kids to compete (10:24) in a smart, effective way against these other schools. (10:28) Well, Coach Kelly Fulmer, Starbucket High School Golf (10:30) on the First Bank of Wyoming Sports Friday. (10:32) Coach, thank you so much for your time as always.
(10:34) Wish you guys the best of luck. (10:36) Yeah, appreciate you guys. (10:37) Thanks a lot for the call.
(10:39) It’s First Bank of Wyoming Sports Friday (10:40) on the SBI Radio Network.