Just about every high school team heads into each season needing to replace some graduates and fill some shoes from the past season.

This year’s Emmaus golf team has some gaping holes and big shoes to fill after the graduation of seven seniors, including three state qualifiers from last year’s team.

The Hornets must replace East Penn Conference champ and district runner-up Matt Zerfass, girls league and district champ Evelyn Wong and EPC medalist Aiden LeBlanc. Those three all advanced through regionals and competed in the state tournament last year. They graduated in spring, along with four other seniors who were often part of the team’s top-five scorers last year.

Juniors Noah Schurman and Andrew Kleist return this season and have more most match experience of anyone on this year’s Emmaus roster. They were both regulars in the line up as sophomores, with Schurman finishing 15th in the District 11 Championships and 12th in the league tournament.

“Noah and Zach are both three-year varsity players,” said first-year head coach Patrick Birns. “Both have a lot of experience and have had the leadership role. Noah has had a really good summer of competitions and has been playing some good tournaments.”

Schurman will be the team’s No. 1 player this season and scored in the 70s in the team’s first few matches. Kleist, junior Zach Yenawine and senior John Hughes have been playing in the 2-4 positions.

“[Schurman] is a clear number one,” said first-year Hornet head coach Patrick Birns. “Two through four is very close. They’re going up and down. I think the top four are pretty solid”

Several players are in the mix for the next three spots, which Birns said he could rotate for a few matches to find the right combination as he gets a young team some varsity experience. Eight players compete in dual matches with the top five scores counting toward the team score.

Seniors Zach Madigan and juniors Colton Beiber and Zach Teischman have gotten some starts early in the season and one of a few promising freshmen could make their way into the line up.

Emmaus started 2-2 through the first week of the season, including a one-stroke loss to Parkland (420-421) in both teams’ 2022 season opener on Aug. 16.

“I think with more matches we play they’re going to get better,” said Birns. “It looks like right now Nazareth and Liberty are above everybody else. If we can get some of these guys to get a little lower maybe we can compete with Liberty when we see them later in the year. It’s going to be a huge advantage being here at Brookside. But they have five players that are shooting in the 70s and we haven’t had that yet.”

The Hornets went 17-2 overall last year and 14-1 in the East Penn Conference and finished second to Liberty in the league and district tournaments.

Schurman, who recently won the 28th annual Owen McCall Memorial tournament to qualify for this year’s Lehigh Valley Junior Amateur Championship, is looking to build on his successful sophomore season.

“I feel like I’ve played pretty good,” he said. “You can always improve but I’m happy with the way I’m playing right now.

“The goals for postseason this year are to go to states and make a name for myself in the postseason.”

Emmaus will conclude the short golf season just month after it started, with a nonleague match against Southern Lehigh on Sept. 14. This year’s league championships are scheduled for Sept. 19 at Olde Homestead. The district qualifier is a week later and the District 11 Championships a week after that on Oct. 3.