Season preview: Boys’ golf reloads

Head Coach: Dave Gragnola

Last year’s record: 12-0

Recap: The team went undefeated in the regular season and made it to CCS Finals, but placed last in finals since three of the top six starters were away on previously scheduled trips (the season was extended past the school year due to the pandemic).

Key Matchups: Los Gatos and Monta Vista

Star Players: No. 1 player junior Howard Shu, No. 2 player junior Sankalp Aswani, No. 3 player freshman Oliver Pott, No. 4 player junior Cameron Sy 

Key losses to graduation: Albert Jing, Geoffrey Jing, Akshar Sarvesh, Nathan Murthy, Kelly Huesby and Michael Burry

League: De Anza League

Prognosis:

The Falcons won the first three matches of their league season: 193-243 against Gunn on March 7, 202-203 against Monta Vista on March 3 and 204-211 against Los Gatos on Feb. 28. Though the team lost seven talented players to graduation last June, they are looking to replicate the overwhelming success of recent years with another strong roster.

They have large shoes to fill; last year, the team cruised through the league undefeated before ultimately falling at CCS finals. All of last season’s starters have graduated except the current No. 1 player, junior Howard Shu.

Against Gunn, while Shu and No. 4 player junior Cameron Sy played slightly worse due to injuries, the vast majority of players played well, with the No. 3 player, freshman Oliver Pott, scoring lowest at a 36 and No. 2 player junior Sankalp Aswani scoring a 37, resulting in a comfortable win for the team. 

The team’s away match against Monta Vista was difficult for players on both teams due to unfamiliarity with the course, which was the San Jose Country Club instead of Monta Vista’s home course. Monta Vista’s top two players, senior Calvin Kong and freshman Ethan Lien, scored 33 and 34 respectively, but their remaining four players scored much higher. Saratoga had a more consistent scoring of around 42 throughout the team, with Shu shooting lowest at a 35, securing the close win. (Teams play 9-hole matches during the regular season, with the top six players’ scores added up for the final totals.)

Against Los Gatos, the largest factor in Saratoga’s victory was that Los Gatos’s No. 1 player, senior Giuliano Kaminski, had played slightly worse than expected, shooting 44. Shu, scoring the lowest at 37, said the teams were evenly matched and expects another challenging, close match against Los Gatos on March 24.

Since the players and coach are unsure of the strength of other teams apart from their top one or two players, it is tough to estimate how good the team is relative to other teams in the league. While Shu said the team is no longer a dominant force in the league, the results so far have been similar to recent years. 

“We’ll have to see if we can keep up the momentum,” Shu said. “Our new players are very solid, which I didn’t expect after losing so many players to graduation.”

Pott has been consistently scoring around 40 per match and played exceptionally well against Gunn. Aswani, a transfer from Lynbrook, has made clear improvements since tryouts and averages around 38 strokes per match. He quickly climbed from his initial ranking of 4th to 2nd, all while assimilating to the Saratoga Country Club course.

Since new players like Pott and Aswani will be practicing at Saratoga Country Club, a fairly unusual course, Sy said that playing at more normal courses will be slightly strange for them. Sy noted that the course diverges from more conventional courses because it requires smart and conservative decisions due the course’s extremely short and trappy nature, particularly since unaware players severely underestimate the slopes of the greens. 

“Our home course is a complicated course that our team knows well. We have a big home course advantage because many players on other teams are unfamiliar with it,” Sy said. “Away games will definitely be tougher because practicing at our home course is so different from other courses.”

Regarding team chemistry, Sy said that while golf is largely individual compared to more coordinated team sports, it is definitely still beneficial for the upperclassmen to be more proactive in fostering an encouraging environment for the underclassmen.

“Golf can get pretty frustrating sometimes, so it’s helpful to have a tight-knit team that can encourage each other,” Sy said. 

For now, the team is focused on improving the technical aspect of their play. Shu said coach Dave Gragnola emphasizes taking calculated risks and choosing the right club and target to aim at for a successful shot.

Shu feels that though it may be difficult to replicate last season’s dominating results, the team is promising, especially for a team mainly consisting of new players.

“The other teams in our league also may have changed as drastically as our team since last season,” Shu said. “Though winning league finals may be a stretch since we aren’t sure about the strength of other teams, it is definitely a goal for us.”