The Varsity Golf team finished with a 1-7 league record and an overall record of 1-13 this year. The boys only have two upperclassmen on their roster and have struggled this season due to inexperience.
The Rams went to Par 3 in Arcadia on Mondays and Wednesdays in order to work on their fundamentals and putting. Coach Lyle Takeshita made the boys do a variety of drills and gave them tips for which golf clubs to use in specific situations.
“For drills we grab a bucket of balls, go to the putting green and putt from five feet, hit about 15 balls, and then move back five more feet and repeat,” Senior Cody Dearth said. “We continue doing this until we get to about 25 feet, then we switch holes.”
The Rams struggled in league with their only win coming against the South Pasadena Tigers at Eaton Canyon 247-249. The scores for their games are accumulative from the amount of hits from the five best players of each team, with the team with the lower amount of total shots winning the match.
Besides that win, the Rams came close to claiming victory in some games but have either ended up short in the end or had bad breaks along the way, resulting in their high number of losses this season.
“This year we had to replace many talented players who graduated or did not return due to injury,” Sophomore Edward Chou said. “We have good chemistry, even though we lack experience, but next year I feel like we will be much better.”
The team did not do as well as they would have liked this year, but are looking forward to redeeming themselves with a better season next year. Some of the players are going to continue going to driving ranges and play golf in order to hone their skills, while others plan to lift some weights in order to become stronger.
“I would just like to say that golf is a very respectful sport that requires a lot of technique and practice,” Dearth said. “My advice for the team next year is that it’s important to keep cool no matter how frustrating golf can be and that you don’t play against the other team, you play against the courses.”
With the mentoring from Coach Takeshita and the advice from some of the parting seniors on the team this year, the team has high hopes for next spring as the players will have more experience and knowledge under their belt.