With a loss against Burlingame High School last Thursday, the Aragon varsity golf team brought their record to 5-5.
With regards to the season in whole, the team has met its challenges with newfound successes. Initially, the squad lost two of its best players; formerly top ranked golfer Amol Mahal graduated last year while currently number one ranked player junior Landon Hart was unable to play several matches due to a hand injury. Coach Guy Oling says “[It is] basically a smaller squad this year.” Yet, the smaller squad opens up more opportunity for other players. Oling says, “Everyone is a factor [and] participating more. [It is] a smaller squad and tighter bond.”
Furthermore, regardless of Hart’s injury, team goals remain strong. Oling says, “[Our] target was to make playoffs, have individuals or the team qualify for Central Coast Section, and potentially have top ten golfers in the Peninsula Athletic League.”
The last team game, a nine hole playoff match against Burlingame High School, took place at the Burlingame Country Club in Hillsborough. The top two ranked players Landon Hart and Jeremy Hardy were unable to play, resulting in a slight shift in ranking that placed Kenny Lin, Ali Imani, and Joey Constantino at the top respectively. Players were split into foursomes that involved two players from each team facing off against each other.
Both Lin and Imani began their match positively, hitting either close to par or their opponents for the first six holes. With the initial lack of wind, Aragon and Burlingame players all displayed powerful drives that would precede approach shots.
However, overall performance shifted beginning at the seventh hole. Of a higher difficulty than other holes, yet of a low par, the seventh hole consisted of a winding, hilly, and narrow path edged by clusters of trees. Imani began with a powerful, strong drive, but Lin’s drive on the same hole veered drastically right toward a tree, resulting in an added stroke. Amidst the rising wind, Imani faced issues overshooting within the green which again added strokes to his score.
During the eighth hole, wind levels rose noticeably and again impacted performance from both sides. Players were unable to cleanly drive the golf ball on their first strokes; thus, both Aragon and Burlingame’s top ranked players required two strokes on their drives. Compared to the previous holes, Imani and Lin finished the ninth hole, a par three, with relative ease.
The game ended with an overall score of Burlingame’s 211 to Aragon’s 257. Out of Aragon’s players, number three ranked Constantino scored the lowest on the team with 43 strokes total. The team season ended with this playoff loss; however, most of its players will continue playing in the upcoming PAL individual match.
Thus, many of those playing did not regard this loss as their final match. Constantino says, “We are still practicing as a team. If we feel like it is the end already, it is not a good mentality. We want to feel like it is just the beginning when we are going into the PAL tournament.”
