After finding their footing and the fairways, the golf team swung into one of its best seasons yet. The Wildcats finished their season with a 12-6 record and a fourth place finish in the county championship.
Most recently, the team honored their seniors with a Tuesday afternoon match at Needwood against County Champions Whitman, Sherwood and B-CC. The team finished their regular season with a statement win against two of the best teams in the county.
Four out of the five players who competed at the County championship on Monday, Oct. 5 at The Crossvines golf course in Poolesville qualified for the state championship with a total score of 316. The score was enough to have the entire team qualify, even as not every individual qualified.
“It’s a shame that one of our team members couldn’t make it individually, but I was really glad to make it as a team,” Gomes said.
Throughout the match, sophomore Ryan Kim led the pack, earning a 10th place individual finish with senior captain Paul Gomes trailing not far behind at 11th.The two-headed dragon of Kim and Gomes has brought prominence to the title of Wildcat.
The team has a strong mix of senior leadership backed by a solid sophomore class. Many of the seniors have years of experience on the team, with their leadership guiding the underclassmen to a successful season.
“I keep giving my players more spirit and optimism about how the game will go, telling them stress on how to play on certain home certain holes and, you know, showing them what to look up and look out for,” Kim said. “And obviously, golf is a very mental game.”
To get to this point, the team tried to remain level-headed throughout the season, especially when facing some of the stronger opponents in the county in teams such as Churchill and Sherwood, whom they respectively fell short to earlier in the season.
Battling through adversity, the Wildcats progressively got better as the season went on, with their first sweep of the season coming at one of the last matches of the season against Damascus, Poolesville and Whitman.
“We’ve gotten better through going through bad times together, building confidence off each other’s experiences,” Ryan Kim said.
Although still a team sport, golf is very much individualized as each player battles their inner monologue.
“Honestly, through it all, I try to pray during my matches, and I try to turn to God whenever I’m having a hard time,” Gomes said. “At the end of the day, our value isn’t determined by golf, and it’s just a score, and we’re the same people no matter what.”
The main focus for the team now is the state championship, the culmination of hours of hard work spent on the course.
“I think we’ll do pretty good this year, because you know, our team chemistry is really good, and our top four is really solid,” Kim said.
The state championship starts today, Oct. 27 at the University of Maryland Golf Course. The semifinals are currently underway, where the players hope to advance to the finals held on Wednesday, Nov. 29.
