Last match before MVALs ends in victory
Jennifer Fong
Staff Writer
Despite strong winds in the afternoon, the American golf team beat Washington’s team 213 – 241 at the Skywest golf course on Wednesday, April 13th.
“I felt like I was a little unprepared before the match, but after I got into it, I felt really comfortable,” Mira Yoo (11) said. “I thought I was swinging pretty well and my scores were fairly good. The people that I were playing with were really kind, so it made it easier for me to play. It was better than most of my rounds.”
Yoo and Vivek Vasireddy (9) were part of the first group to take on the course. They were followed by Eric Hsu (12) and Sam Mata (9) in the second group, and Rohan Datar (12) and Connor Gerardo (11) in the last group.
“Mira and Vivek are both very good players who compete at a very high level,” Hsu said. “As for Sam, this is his first year on the team so I think he isn’t really comfortable with the whole layout yet. [Although], he has a really nice swing and he does really well.”
As the match progressed, the wind died down – allowing the heat to settle on the course. Players showed visible fatigue in the second half of the match.
“Most people don’t know, but the golf bag is quite heavy and we walk an average of 380 yards a hole for 18 holes,” Hsu said. “There’s barely any shade, and we play in 100 degree weather or even when it’s raining and is 50 degrees. It really is a sport that tests one’s endurance; to keep one’s composure and swing is very hard as time goes on.”
As the match came to a close, all twelve players from both teams gathered to tally up their scores. There was a sense of camaraderie among all the players, despite coming from different schools, followed by light conversation throughout the process.
“[Golf is] a small sport so it’s a small team,” Datar said. “I’ve been playing with Eric since freshman year and Mira and Connor since sophomore year, so I’m good friends with most of the starting members and I was good friends with the graduates. So, since it’s a small team we all get along really well; we encourage each other when we’re not doing so well and we can feel happy for each other when we’re playing well.”
With MVALs coming up, the team is now preparing for two, back to back, all day competitions at the Callippe Preserve Golf Course and the Skywest golf course.
“I hope we beat Irvington [at MVALs] because it has always been Mission first, then Irvington second, then we’ve been third,” Yoo said. “I want us to qualify for NCS; I think we can do that if we play well. We can do it if we try hard enough.”
Eagle Era 