Head Coach: Dave Gragnola
Last year’s record: 8-4
Recap: After finishing third in league with a record of 8-4, seniors Aidan Smith and Nick Okada qualified for CCS but not for states
Key Match Ups: Los Gatos
Star Players: Seniors Renn Blanco, Joshua Chang, Matthew Chang, Nick Okada, Oliver Pott and Aidan Smith
Key losses to graduation: Ryan Lin
League: De Anza
Prognosis:
Last season, the team finished third in the De Anza Division with an 8-4 record. They remain in the upper division and will play opponents such as Los Altos, Cupertino, Gunn, Los Gatos, Monta Vista and Palo Alto.
Golf, unlike most sports, has a larger varsity team and smaller travel team. The travel team — the top six players — compete in all the away games and also play home matches, whereas other varsity players play only in home matches and their scores don’t count in the actual competition.
This year, the travel team includes five seniors, and one freshman, No. 6 Michael Zhao. The seniors are No. 1 Nick Okada, No. 2 Aidan Smith, No. 3 Matthew Chang, No. 4 Renn Blanco and No. 5 Joshua Chang. However, their placement is not permanent and can change depending on their performance during matches. Travel team members can also fall out of the top six if they play poorly or are injured or sick.
The rest of the varsity team includes seniors Oliver Pott, Langdon Huynh and Joshua Bang, junior Miles Sy, sophomore Mars Ching and freshman Neev Mehra.
“I’ve known all the seniors since they were freshmen, so it’s a pretty smooth transition since I’ve known them for so long,” Zhao said. “It’s just getting used to the high school travel team and the work ethic that we have to work towards but overall it’s a pretty smooth transition.”
The team practices Monday through Thursday at the Saratoga Country Club to refine their skills and familiarize themselves with their home course.
On March 4, the travel team went to Baylands in Palo Alto to play an away match against Gunn, losing 199-215. On March 3, they played their first league match against Los Altos, which ended in a 196-196 tie. On Feb. 26 the team had their first scrimmage against 11 other schools at Bayview in Milpitas, ending up in fourth place.
“I hope to do well and make CCS as a team,” Blanco said. “This is my last year so I want to make it as memorable as possible and have fun with everyone on the team.”
The team will take on Los Gatos on March 17 at the Saratoga Country Club.
