Cumberland County High School’s varsity golf team features a group of five players entering the 2019 season, and Dukes Head Coach Monroe Preston expects to see improvement on the 2018 team’s performance.

“I’ve got some good players,” he said. “They’re good kids, so I’m thinking that we should win maybe a couple more than we did last year.”

Reflecting on the 2018 campaign, he said, “I believe we won two last year.”

The Dukes will face tough competition, however. Speaking Wednesday, prior to Cumberland’s season opener Thursday, Preston said he was not sure exactly how his team would compare to 2019 James River District foes since the Dukes had not played yet.

“The work that they’ve put in and the swings that I’ve seen, the swings look good,” he said of the Dukes. “I think they should score better than what we’ve been scoring in practice, but we’ll see tomorrow, and then I’ll have some idea how it comes out.”

Cumberland’s roster includes junior Thomas “Tad” Bryant III, sophomores Calvin Foster, Jack McCutcheon and Michael Ward Jr. and freshman Zakary Leonard, the latter of which is new to the sport.

“Thomas is the oldest, and he’s probably going to be my No. 1 player,” Preston said. “No. 2 is going to be Calvin. He missed some practices because he works. He does a lot, but he’s probably got more of the leadership initiative in him, just a natural leader. He takes over sometimes and just leads the team.”

As for who will fill the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, the coach said that might shuffle.