In their final league tournament of the season, the boys’ golf team reigned in their sixth consecutive league win at Mountain View Golf Course, leading the team to CIF. The Dragons swung in the win with 423 strokes against Fillmore (483 strokes), Santa Clara (489 strokes), Santa Paula (511 strokes), and Carpinteria (534 strokes) high schools.
Coach Mark Wipf is elated to have made his team to CIF, a huge accomplishment for the team’s first year.
“We’re really excited! It’s a great accomplishment for the team! I feel the entire team has taken pride in [Foothill] Tech Golf and trying to put us on the map,” Wipf said. “They have all worked so hard to improve. They did it for themselves and their classmates at [Foothill] Tech.”
Wipf was honored as one of the two “Co-Coaches of the Year” but feels that “all the coaches gave so much time and energy to make this a great experience for the players.”
Senior Scott Hamlet, who came in third overall at the tournament with a 79, is the only Foothill player who qualified for individual CIF and was awarded “All-League First Team” along with freshman Sean Ward, who came in fifth with an 84. Senior Jameson Mah came in seventh with 86 strokes and earned an “Honorable Mention,” followed by seniors Trevor O’Keefe and Ryan Stem, who tied for eighth with 87 strokes.
The team had their lowest team total of the season at Mountain View, which Wipf credits to the players’ strategic decisions.
“Our team plan was to make better choices on each tee shot. Not to just be on automatic and play a driver,” he said. “Although Mountain View was a shorter course, it has many options off the tee that I wanted each player to consider before going straight to the driver. The course requires players to play smart and not to try and overpower many of the holes.”
Wipf’s goals for the coming CIF tournaments are to lower the team’s scores in order to advance to the next round.
“Our team will need to go to the next level. It will take a team score of under 390 (team average of 78) to have a chance to make the top two teams and advance to the next round. We’re going to play a couple of practice rounds at Soule Park and make our very best effort,” Wipf said.
Wipf understands this will take focus but is also committed to taking the journey one step at a time.
“When things are going well, you need to get even more focused on reaching your goals,” said Wipf. “We will keep trying to get better today than we were yesterday. It is also important to remember what got them here: One-shot-at-a-time.”
