Boys’ golf faces obstacles

The boys’ golf team is currently 6-2 and, despite recent victories, is experiencing a minor slump. Everyone from last year’s team, except for No. 1 player senior Arman Vaziri, has been averaging worse scores than last year.

Though the team is not performing at its best, the Falcons remain second in the De Anza League and have continued to win matches. The Falcons beat Monta Vista by 20 points on March 23, achieving redemption after losing to Monta Vista on Feb. 24 by one stroke, which broke the Falcons’ two-year league winning streak.

On March 9, the team beat Milpitas by over 100 points and repeated the feat on March 11. The team scored another win when it faced Los Gatos again, a team it had lost to by 15 strokes before, and defeated the Wildcats 189-212 on March 3.

Because the the Saratoga Country Club golf was aerated from March 15-21, the team could not practice together. Despite this obstacle and the slump the team is still experiencing, senior Robby Gragnola sees the team’s potential for improvement.

“Every week there are sometimes one or two people who aren’t playing as well as their average. Sometimes it’s just a bad day,” Gragnola said. “We need to practice harder to meet our high expectations and our average.”

To train, the Falcons hold inner, mock competitions such as Ultimate Shot. Players of different levels play against each other, preparing themselves for the stressful situations in a real match.

Future matches include Wilcox on March 30 and Santa Clara on April 1. With only a few matches left in the season, the Falcons hope that they will win their final matches while continuing to improve each week, and hopefully make the league tournament.

To reach CCS, the Falcons must remain as one of the top two teams in the league; currently, only Los Gatos is ahead of them.