Boys’ golf ends March with just one victory in strong De Anza

Golfers find themselves in an unfamiliar place of looking up to other schools in the standings.

After multiple rainouts to start the season, the boys’ golf team has struggled when it has managed to get onto the course. As of March 31, they had a 1-5-1 record after a 211-222 loss against Los Gatos on March 30.

The Falcons’ sole victory came against Cupertino on March 27, ending with a score of 205-214 behind sophomore Oliver Pott’s best round of the season, 2 over 36, which earned him medalist of the match.

“There aren’t particular people that are necessarily lacking, but a couple of players each match who perform below expectations and can flip the results,” sophomore Aidan Smith said.

He attributed underperformances to a lack of experience and practice from all members coming back into the season.

The team competes with their top six players, dubbed the “travel team,” and within those six, Smith currently leads the team with a 40.5 scoring average, followed by senior Howard Shu with 41.0, senior Sunny Aswani with 41.0, Pott and senior Cameron Sy with 42.0 and sophomore Nicholas Okada with 42.5.

Two losses to Palo Alto on March 22 and Los Altos on March 20 had scores of 197-186 and 207-201, respectively. A face-off against Lynbrook on March 16 ended in a tie at 189-189, with Aswani leading the team with a 1 over 35.

“The team was poised to beat Lynbrook the first time we played them,” head coach David Gragnola said. “We had a few players who were looking hopeful to join the travel team and were looking to turn things around from there.”

So far, five of their seven matches have been away and Smith feels that some of their bad luck may be associated with unfamiliarity with the course, stating that it would be easier to play at their home course with known angles and speeds of the greens.

Smith has found the team’s overall performance better at the Saratoga Country Club home course. However, he feels that the team lacks overall consistency, rather than a single player’s abilities.

“Almost all of the team is the same as last year, but we still haven’t been performing,” Sy said. “Due to an erratic practice and competing schedule, we haven’t yet found our groove in the season and routine. I hope that we only get better from here and can grow all together.”