Senior Matthew Fabian chips a shot with hopes of a birdie. Photo by Ryan Woods
As the boys’ golf season winds down, the team looks back at their successful year.
Looking back, Head Coach Stacey Fornstrom believed the season went very well. “The nice thing was that during every tournament, we improved,” explained Fornstrom, who continued on to describe what the team does during practice to prepare them for tournaments. They do a variety of drills, including putting and chipping drills, where they have to make a 25-foot putt before they move onto the next phase. “We like to mix it up.” Fornstrom says that his players should think about course management and playing golf instead of worrying about just swinging.
According to Fornstrom, the two best tournaments during the season for Thomas Jefferson was a toss up between the City Cup and Regionals. During the City Cup, the boys had their best team score of 248, which placed them in third, one stroke behind the East Angels. About three-fourths of the team shot their best scores of the season, including Senior Matthew Fabian, who said he was proud of his team. “I shot my personal best in a tournament and our team played well. I couldn’t have asked for more,” said Fabian. “In all, we had a pretty good season.”
The other fantastic tournament Fornstrom mentioned was the Regional Tournament. The team placed 6th out of 18 teams, with Senior Ben Smiley making it to state. He shot a 75, tying him for 5th place, which is the best regional placing TJ has had in several years. “I was ecstatic when I qualified for state,” exclaimed Smiley. “It was a weight lifted off my shoulders because it is my senior year and I finally made it to state, but I wish my teammates could have made it with me.” The state tournament is on October 1st and 2nd, and Smiley says he hopes to place in the top half of the field.
The golf season coming to a close has made the seniors reminisce on the past four years, and has the underclassmen looking onto their next golf season. “We have a bunch of freshmen and sophomores that are really excited to play golf. They improved a lot this year and we hope we can build on that,” explained Fornstrom. “We want to keep them excited so they can improve on their own.”
