After losing in their first match of the season, the golf team is energized to turn things around and has high hopes for the rest of the season with a team of seasoned players. On April 10, the team headed out to The Gunnery School for their first match of the new spring season. They faced off against two very talented teams: Loomis Chaffee and The Gunnery. Kingswood Oxford shot well and scored a tough 226, but they still fell to both teams in a close match. Loomis Chaffee won the match with an even score of 210 and Gunnery took second with 206.
Although they did lose, the team is still in enthusiastic spirits since everyone performed well. Senior Garth Swanson played number 1 and shot a 45, junior Niko Rodriguez who played number 2 shot a 40. Junior Will Layden played number 3 and shot a 48, junior Karstian Lang played number 4 and shot a 49, senior Ryan Peterson played number 5 and shot a 41, and finally junior Troy Gostyla played number 6 and shot a 51. “Overall I think we played great,” Lang said. “It was a great season opener, but in the end Loomis and Gunnery just have some really good players. It was only the first match, and everyone was still just getting into the season, so we’re not worried.”
The team is happy with their first match, but they realize that there is still work to be done in order to have a winning season. Compared to last year’s group, the team is essentially the exact same, as there were no seniors on last year’s roster. The team has grown older and more experienced. Nearly the entire roster are upperclassmen this year with only a couple of underclassmen joining the team this year. “We just have to practice and get back into it,” said Rodriguez. “Our first loss can be partly blamed on the weather, but at the end of the day mother nature’s not swinging the clubs. We’ll get back into it in no time.”
They played Loomis Chaffee again on April 17 along with Westminster and Kent. Last year, the golf team did not have the best season, ending in an overall record of five wins and 18 losses. They were very young and many had never played at the varsity level. This year, the entire team is very optimistic and confident that they will improve their record from last season. The team has to play every match, except for two, on the other team’s course, which is going to be a challenge that they have to overcome. The only other home match they have is the KO invitational on May 22.
The team is lead by Head Coach Scott Dunbar. Coach Dunbar knows that the team has improved over the off season and is ready to utilize their strengths and win as many matches as possible this season. Like the first one, there will be more challenging matches this season against some really good competition. The team is aware of this and is prepared to practice for the tough matches because they are determined to have a good season.
This year’s team features a very talented and experienced roster of six guys that are eager to kick the season into full gear. Kingswood Oxford’s next home match is on Wednesday, April 20 at Tunxis Country Club against Avon Old Farms and Canterbury.
