Golf Takes the Year to Build Up for 2015

The varsity golf team finished their season with a record of 6-7, falling short of their 6-6-1 record the season before. Although the record was not as impressive as the team hoped it to be, the season was a good start for such a young, promising team.

This year, the team was comprised of nine underclassmen, seven of them preps. Since so many of the players were new to Exeter, the golfers noticed a lack of team chemistry at the beginning of the season.

Prep Michelle Lee described the friendships between the team at the beginning of the season compared to the end. “We started off the season as practically strangers, although the older players had known each other prior to joining the golf team this year,” she said. “However, as this season now comes to a close, I feel a lot closer with many of my teammates, and I believe that many of us have forged close, or perhaps, even closer friendships than we had before.”

Senior Kyle Alexander, a co-captain of the team, commented on the lack

 of practice time, which led to a slow start to building team chemistry. “We played our first match without ever practicing, so once we finally started practicing we started playing better as a team.”

The lack of practice was a big issue this season. Due to the oddly cold weather, the team was forced to stay indoors, barely meeting the course until midway through the season.

“The team, I know for sure, could've improved a lot more if we could've started the season earlier since we could barely practice for the first half of the season due to weather,” prep Stella Woo said.

Prep Charlie Dubiel said that the lack of practice should not be an excuse for a mediocre season. “I think part of the disappointment of the season could have been not being able to start playing until mid-April, but I don't want to make any excuses.”

Lee believes that next year, with more practice time, the team will be able to perform better. “The downs of the season were that although we had a fairly strong group of players, we definitely did not do as well as we could have,” she said. “I feel that with better preparation, and perhaps with more thorough team planning, we could do a lot better.”

Woo agreed with Lee, noting that more practice will mean better results. “Next year, we'll definitely be better, thinking of both more practice we'll be getting and the new preps coming who, from what we’ve heard, are very talented.”

Even with this problem, the team’s improvement throughout the season was evident in the results of their matches. In the second match of the season, Exeter faced a tough, and more experienced Deerfield squad who dominated Big Red, with the final score standing at 9.5 to 2.5. But in the last match of the season, the team placed seventh out of 23 teams in the Kingswood Oxford Tournament, a very impressive feat.

Alexander commented on the improvement during this season. “As the season progressed and once we finally got onto the course, things started shaping together.” 

Prep Brian Choi observed a distinct difference in level of play between the beginning and end of the season. “The ups of the season were toward the end,” he said. “Everyone played better, and we placed well on the final matches.”

Lower Hiroyuki Kuwana believes that the cause of such improvement was the team relationship that had been developed throughout the season. “The team improved by helping each other out and playing together, creating bonds in the golf team with other people.”

Next year, the team is hoping to use this improvement and continue from that level of performance.

Choi explained his perspective on the team’s situation for the upcoming season. “Although we will lose a key member of our team, Kyle Alexander, next year I expect the team to be better,” he said. “Some of the lowerclassmen have already solidified their place on the team.”

These promising 7 preps and 2 lowers will surely be able to improve for their upcoming years representing Big Red. “We had many preps this year who will continue to grow and get better at golf for the next 3 years,” Woo said. Choi added, “Our team consists of 7 preps, so the future looks bright. Overall, the team improved from last year.”

Alexander, who is graduating this year, believes that next year the team will be an upgrade from this season. “They should be really good next year,” he said. “Everyone besides me is returning, and as far as I know there are a few pretty talented golfers coming in the fall.”

Although many believe that next year will be a more successful season, Kuwana realizes that they will need to improve for those words to come true. “There is still a large room for improvement as a team for next season, and we did our best this year but next year, with a lot of practice, I know we will do much better.”

As the team looks to next season, they do realize that many positives resulted from this season, even with the record being under .500. Team bonding, golf skill improvement and more practice time were only some of them.

Choi said, “The season was definitely a success, although the record might not show, we can take away many positives from this year.”