The coed golf team has gotten off to an impressive start this season. The Wildcats are currently 12-0, having beaten their first 12 opponents with ease. Despite graduating two seniors, one of whom made states last year, the team has been able to pick things right back up from the previous season.
“The reason behind our great start is our top four golfers, Fannie Sukhumparnich, Dimitri Townsend, Paul Gomes and Daniel Kim. These four keep putting up excellent performances in all of our matches. In a few matches when not all four of them are available, the fifth and sixth players have stepped up and put in solid scores,” senior Evan Rothberg said.
Led by captains Townsend and Sukhumparnich, the Wildcats are looking dangerous.
“I am honored to be the team captain, it has taught me how to lead and help others and myself improve, as well as be a team player,” Townsend said.
The first match of the season saw the Wildcats take on Wootton, Rockville and Clarksburg. With a stroke total of 155, the team was able to take first as Wootton shot 163, Rockville shot 187 and Clarksburg shot 181.
In the next match, the Wildcats faced Damascus, Rockville and Gaithersburg. Once again, though, no team could keep up with WJ. The winning stroke total this time was 166, Damascus finished second with 176, Gaithersburg finished third with 185 and Rockville finished last with 210.
The following match proved to be another non-competitive battle as the Wildcats were once again victorious. This time the team faced off against Blair, Gaithersburg and Wootton. WJ had its largest margin of victory as they ended with 165 shots, Blair finished third with 179 shots, Gaithersburg finished fourth with 202 and Wootton was the runner-up with 176 strokes.
The most recent match was the tightest affair of the season. The team took on Rockville, Northwest and Blair and won with a winning stroke total of 170. Northwest finished two strokes behind with 172, Blair followed in third with 175 and Rockville was last with 195.
The team also has some great competition in practices as they push each other to make teammates better.
“Every practice is like a tryout for the next match because the coach needs to pick the hottest golfers as six play out of the eight golfers,” senior Ethan Birndorf said.
As the lone undefeated team in the state, the pressure will surely be on the Wildcats throughout the rest of the season. Even though the WJ golf program doesn’t have any state titles, it has had great success with sending individuals to the state tournament. The team had two participants last year and hopes to improve that number this season.
“The WJ golf team has high goals this season. With our top 4 golfers and solid backups, we can go very far. We are among the best in the county and hopefully can win the county championship. There is even a chance the team goes further than this,” Rothberg said.
The team’s next match is on Thursday, Sept. 29, they face off against Wootton, Northwest and Damascus at Needwood golf course.
