Last year was great for the boys’ golf team. The team did league tournament play and would consistently place 2nd or 3rd place during these tournaments. The team made it to Finals and placed 2nd in League.
The team lost 3 seniors to graduation, but a strong core returns this year. “We have some strong players coming back”, Coach Sunil Patel said, “so I’m looking forward to growth.”
There are 6 returners – seniors Diego Calderon, Ivan Alonso, and Sebastian Soto; juniors Oscar Calderon and Jeremiah Baloca; and sophomore Andrew Figueroa.
The new additions are freshman Julian Retamoza, Ariel Ramirez, Emilio Reyes, Jhonn Silva, Eduardo Martinez, and Edward Lopez.
This year, the team didn’t change divisions. They stayed in the mission league, which is the middle league and York is the new school. With the team building up their skills every year, the boys’ golf team is shooting for the championship. In this case, it would be the league title. “Every single returning player has to step up,” Patel said. “They need to improve their game a little bit.”
Although the team showed improvement and that they have what it takes to reach their goal, they still have a long road ahead. “As long as we get that continued improvement, then we have a solid chance of getting a championship this year,” Patel said.
The team overall has a great bond with each other. They push each other to do better, which is something that will help them strive for their goal. “Our team strengths are camaraderie, they have fun and they build good friendships,” Patel said. “The other is the players helping each other out.” Senior Diego Calderon agrees with Patel. “We are all super competitive, we hate losing,” Calderon said. “We are also open with each other when we need help, we ask each other.” Maintaining this relationship within the team is important in order to get the team to league championship because the improvement lies within the team.
Coach Patel’s second top player, Sebastian Soto has the same goals as the coach for the team. “Hopefully we can win league because Alvarez went up a league and they were our only competition,” Soto said. “Hopefully we can also win CCS, if possible.” Since competition has been removed, the team has what it takes to achieve their goal, all they need is to put in the work and use the passion they have. On the other hand, for individual play, Oscar Calderon, the third top player on the team, wants to decrease his stroke count. “I want to continue to compete and hopefully get the lowest score,” Caldeon said. “Any player out there can shoot the lowest score and I just wanna be the player that shoots the lowest.”
So far, the team is on track with their goal. They have remained in second place and are getting practice with Alvarez, who is a league higher than them, to improve their game. During their friendly match, Alisal scored 230 and Alvarez 208.
In order to win league, they must beat York, a private school in Monterey. York is the one school that Alisal looks forward to playing with because it’s their greatest competition. “It’s a bit frustrating this year because we are so close to winning league,” Patel said. “Unfortunately, York has some phenomenal players so it’s hard, but we’re gonna keep competing and try to get first.”
