The Jesuit Golf team has gotten the first taste of its competitors this year in the three tournaments they’ve attended. The Golf team, instructed by Coach Kathy Marino, has become even more popular ever since Jesuit graduate Jordan Spieth ’11 made his PGA pro debut earlier this year. The team has enough potential to make the state tournament.
Each tournament is played on a par 70 golf course. Most of the tournaments begin with an 8 a.m. shotgun, where everyone starts at the same time, at different holes. These shotguns ensure that the tournament ends quickly and that everyone finishes at around the same time. There are three tournaments in the fall for the JV and four tournaments for the Varsity. In the spring, there are four tournaments for both JV and Varsity, depending on what a player’s scores are. Generally, there are eight high school tournaments, but the UIL has changed the number of tournaments from eight to seven this year.
The JV and Varsity tryouts were held at a variety of golf courses. Coach Marino places the individuals on Varsity or JV based off the players’ scores. This year’s tryouts were big, since there still is a lot of excitement about Spieth, but there weren’t as many people as there have been for the past two years. However, Coach Marino is very excited about this year’s players. She usually has about ten top players. Coach Marino “feels like she has a way deeper team because she has about twenty guys that can be on Varsity, since they can shoot under eighty.”
The Junior Varsity team is “doing very well this year,” says Coach Marino. The JV team has had three tournaments so far and has done exceptionally well. In the first tournament, the tame came in second place by scoring a 319, meaning that everyone shot under 80. The second tournament was at the Waterview Golf Club in Rowlett, Texas, where the team came in first place out of the five teams attending. In the recent third tournament, JV scored a 315, earning second place. Sophomore Will Peavy scored a 73 in this tournament and won the individual tournament.
The two top golf players on the Jesuit Varsity Golf Team are Senior Sam Rosenberg and Junior John Campbell, commonly known as JC. Varsity has had a “solid start,” says Coach Marino, and JC also commented that “we have a good chance of making it to state.” The first tournament, which is called the “Bark Ranger,” is one of their biggest tournaments during the golf season. In the first round of the first tournament, it began to rain, which created difficult conditions on the golf course. However, they were still able to come in thirteenth out of the forty-nine teams. The second tournament was the state preview at Onion Creek in Austin. The Jesuit Varsity team had one of their best finishes, by finishing fourth out of eighteen teams with a score of 298/299. Sam Rosenberg finished eighth with a score of 74/71, and JC shot a 68 in the first round. The good showing bodes well for the state championship in May, which will be at Onion Creek.
The Jesuit Golf team usually practices at the Brookhaven, Northwood, and Stonebriar golf courses in Farmers Branch, Dallas, and Frisco. Most of the players have outside instructors for individual practice. Coach Marino strongly encourages the players to practice their chipping and putting game and often says,” to touch a club.” A key part in golf is to “develop a good swing,” says Coach Marino and being able to repeat that same swing. It is generally a rule that you can’t take a lot of time off a sport or else you begin to lose your rhythm. Towards the end of the Fall season, where daylight savings affect the visibility during practices, Coach Marino gives the golf players time off from practice before exams. Also, the Jesuit Golf Team has a competition among themselves, such as when they had a Team Ryder Cup Competition last November, where they broke the entire Golf Team in two and competed against each other.
The Golf team has players that have a lot of potential. Although there is tough competition, the Jesuit Golf team has a great chance to make it to the state championship and fulfill its goals.
