Golf team sees steady improvement

Chase WohrleStaff WriterDespite earlier difficulties of inexperience, the golf team is sealing cracks in their play, going 2-0 in the Ocean League.“We definitely have some work [to do] because we’re a young team,” coach Bart Burdick said after the Los Serreno Spring Classic. The boys placed 14th out of 25 teams in their first match.The putting greens at Saugus were slower than the practice greens. According Burdick, adjusting to greens that are too slow is harder than adjusting to those that are too fast. Because the players had to adjust to the unexpectedly slow greens, scores suffered.“It just took them a while to acclimate themselves,” Burdick said. “They putted much better on the back side (last nine holes) than they did on the front side (first nine holes). For me, I’m always concerned about the front side, because in league, our matches are nine holes.”During the game, 15 three-putts were allowed, adding an additional 15 points to the score. A three-putt simply means that the golfer took three strokes to make the putt, as opposed to two or one. Depending on how many players three-putt, the next point for a player can lead to multiple points added for the team.“Out of the six players from which we take the scores, there were fifteen holes those players three-putted,” junior captain Danny Thomas said. “That increased our scores dramatically.”With Torrance, however, things changed.“[On] Monday we did alright as a team,” senior James Tucker said. “I think the kids are just used to playing more, playing different courses gets them comfortable.”With the win last Monday, the team went into Thursday with confidence, as they should have. Expectedly, the team obtained another victory.“We actually improved more from Thursday than we did from Monday,” junior Armando Sepulveda said. “The course got easier, and next week we play an easier course, it’s a good start.”According to Sepulveda, the team’s improvements could be seen all around the course.“I just think everything in general [improved],” he said. “Putting, drives, fairways, hitting greens and our motivation [improved].”Coach Burdick agrees with Sepulveda, saying as the season progresses, so does the team. The team average improved by four strokes from Saugus to the first Torrance match.“We’re progressing in the right direction, getting better and better everyday,” he said. “That’s a good sign because that’s what you want to do throughout the year.”cwohrle@thesamohi.com