East High Golf - Monday, April 24, 2023

As I left the building for our tournament yesterday, the air was cooler than I expected, but the sun was shining, and the wind was light.  Despite forecasts of rain later, it looked like it was going to be a GREAT day for golf.  But before long, clouds started to build, temperatures began to drop, and even though the wind started to lay down, the rain began to steadily fall.  By 7:00, the tournament had turned into one of my coldest experiences on a golf course.  But because there was no lightning, we played on, and unlike last week, all golfers completed their rounds before dark.

East High’s top player was once again freshman Talen Nasone.  Most mortals would be pleased with a 75 in cold, wet conditions.  But when you miss ten birdie putts, including six that you really felt like you should’ve made, frustration is understandable.  Despite the missed opportunities, Talen finished 7^th overall, and once again shot the best score among all public school players.  He also was in a group with his cousin, former East High student Logan Lam.

Anderson Tung continued his positive play by shooting an 85 to finish tied for 19^th.  He had a handful of moments that would frustrate most people.  But neither those moments, nor the crummy weather were able to get him down.  He just keep cheerily plugging along, and his positive outlook is a big reason why he is so steady out there.

For the rest of our varsity, there were flashes of brilliance mixed with moments of misery.  I felt so bad for Donovan Bergen.  Not only was he frustrated at times by his play, but he forgot to pack a coat, so he played the entire round in short sleeves.  Despite that, he still managed to break 100 for the first time in his career, tying for 28^th place with a score of 96.  Owen Knipp might’ve won the tournament if we’d stopped after one hole, because he had a tremendous birdie on the first hole he played.  He continued to gain confidence as he parred the next two holes, but then lost his swing.  He finished the day tied for 36^th, with a score of 104.  Like everyone else, Hagen Shane had some good moments and some rough moments (I’m working with him to focus on the good ones), as he tied for 40^th with a score of 106.  And finally, Ismail Saeed competed in his first varsity tournament of the season.  He was probably wishing he had played JV because they only had to play nine holes, but he never complained.  Ismail shot a 122 and finished 48^th.  As a team East finished 4^th with a score of 360. 

Kapaun’s Asher Whitaker was the top individual player shooting a tidy, five-under 67.  However, Bishop Carroll was the top team, posting a score of 285.  For complete tournament results, click here.

On the JV side, East had a VERY good day.  Henry White is normally one of our varsity players, but due to concern about an injury, he and I decided it might be best for him to just play nine holes in this tournament.  As it turned out, the wrist felt great, and Henry mopped up, shooting a six-over par 42 to beat the rest of the JV field by five strokes!  But, as if we weren’t just pleased as punch over this development, the rest of our JV squad played awesome as well.  Arri Reilly finished tied for 5^th with a score of 53, and Alec Gatzulis finished tied for 7^th with a score of 54.  This means that East had three of the top nine JV players in yesterday’s field.  For complete JV results, click here.

I was very proud of how the team played yesterday.  It would’ve been so easy to quit because the weather was so miserable.  And it also would’ve been easy to use the weather as an excuse.  But to be honest, I was the only one doing that.  If any of them complained about their play yesterday, it was me who kept reminding them that the weather was terrible, and that yes, it might affect your play.  But I’m not sure they saw it that way.  And that is a beautiful thing.