Golf: Final four regular season matches provide test for Falcons

After a 176-182 win against Monta Vista on March 16 at Deep Cliff Golf Course (par 30); and two wins against Wilcox (227-247) and Santa Clara (224-304) in a three-way match on March 28 at Saratoga Country Club (par 34), the Falcons sit with a 8-1 record and look to prepare for their final four games of the regular season, including two matches against Los Gatos.

In their match against Monta Vista, all of the players played bogey-golf (39) or better. According to No 1. Player senior Lucas Peng, all the players were striking the ball well and keeping the ball in play.

“Almost everyone hit shots that stayed in-bounds throughout the match,” Peng said. “So we were able to save a lot of strokes by not taking penalties.”

During practice, coach Dave Gragnola has been setting up competitions like horseraces, wherein pairs of players play against each other to simulate the pressure-filled atmosphere during actual matches so they can continue keeping up the consistency shown in their match against Monta Vista.

“The competitive factor is also there when we play the [practice] games, so we will feel more confident to hit good solid shots,” No. 4 player junior Nathan Shang said.

The team will face one of their most challenging opponents, Los Gatos on April 11-at Saratoga Country Club and La Rinconada Country Club (par 34) on April 12. The games are two of the team’s last four matches, so Shang finds practice competitions to be especially important.

“When we play Los Gatos, we need everyone to be on their best game,” Shang said. “The practice games help build up the consistency for each of us that is needed to play at our best abilities.”

Sophomore Charles Qi, who plays the No. 9 position, thinks the team will make CCS, but won’t go far without improvement.

““It was nice to see the work we put in during practice pay off in games like the one against Monta Vista [on March 16],” Qi said. “But I think that our team can still play at an even higher level and compete against the other skilled teams in CCS.”