Assoc. Sports Editor
In a strange transitional period to the second half of the season, the boys’ varsity golf team could not compete against San Marino. Several members of the team have been unable to play due to illness and conflicts with other school events. The Tigers also dropped their past two matches previous to San Marino, with tough losses to Monrovia and first-place La Cañada last week. Senior captain Cristian Cotaya affirmed his confidence in the team in its match against San Marino.
“This will be the first game I won’t be able to attend and for sure the last but I’m confident the lower class men are ready to step up to the challenge against San Marino.”
Freshman Damian Ugalde continued to show promise with a solid 48 stroke count to lead the Tigers at Almansor Golf Course against San Marino. Sophomores Elliott Lee and Andrew Son followed with 50 and 56, respectively. Brandon Zhu shot a 63 in his second game of the season for the varsity team. Freshman Joaquin Markinson shot 58 and junior Clayton Kabealo shot a 60 in both of their first games for the team. Golfers Robert Lee, Cristian Cotaya, and Eddy Moon did not participate due to other conflicts. With three freshmen, two sophomores, and one junior, the team
“Yesterday was a rough game for most of the guys who played,” Son said. “I personally felt there were times where I knew I should’ve done a lot better. But, we were missing [three] starters today and most of our team members never played on the course before. After seeing how today, I feel like we have a lot of thinking and practicing to do during the weekend”
In its game against Monrovia, the golf team was able to rely on the majority of their core players. Senior Robert Lee led the team with 47. Cotaya closely followed with 48, Ugalde with 52, and Moon with 52. Elliott Lee and Zhu finished the day with 52 and 54, respectively.
The Tiger did not fare as well against defending league champion La Cañada. Cotaya finished the day with 54, Moon with 60, junior Sterling Wendt finished with 62, junior Myles Mullen with 65, and freshman J. Frommer 66.
“It just wasn’t a great day, many of our players had a bad day,” Robert Lee said about the loss against Monrovia. “The thing about golf is that one moment everything can be going beautifully and the next moment your swing has a flaw and it can be difficult to overcome.”
The Tigers look to bounce back from their three-game skid with a win over Temple City on Tuesday, the only team that the Tigers have defeated.
Stats
Lee: 47
Cotaya: 48
Ugalde: 52
Moon: 52
