By Claire Frank and Rikki Pepino
As one of the most underrated sports in Tuscarora, the varsity golf team has done very well in the current season. The team has a fantastic winning record of 8-4 and qualified for regionals.
The season began with back-to-back wins. “We started strong by winning our first two tournaments decisively,” said junior Thomas Kronenberg.
The team took the victory at the 12th annual Curly Licklider Tournament at the Shenandoah Valley Golf Course for the second year in a row by a margin of 30 points and at the Yorktown Invitational at the Bristow Manor Golf Course by 18 points.
“The season has been very successful,” said Coach Jeff Kaplan. “The boys have worked really hard in the off season, and their score averages have proven that.”
The team’s four losses were incredibly close. One of the most recent losses was at the Conference 14 Championships at the 1757 Golf Course by a margin of only 7 points to Briar Woods. “It was an extremely good competition between both schools. They just had everything working for them in the match,” said junior Chad Stocks. “We could’ve done better, but it was a solid game.”
The other two losses were even closer, by margins of 1 and 4 points.
Notable matches include the August 26th and September 4th victories over Broad Run and John Champe, respectively. Tuscarora beat Broad Run by a margin of 9 points and Champe by 17. Their victorious season resulted in a well-earned spot at the Regional Championship on October 1st.
“We reached one of our goals making Regionals. However, I still think we haven’t played to our potential,” said Kaplan. “I feel we have a great shot at winning the Regional Championship.”
However they did not win regionals. The team had to wake up early to compete and it reflected in their play. While they did not end on a win, the season has been very successful and they look forward to next year’s season.
“[This] season was a blast for all of us because we all became great friends,” said Kronenberg. “Golf lets you spend time really getting to know your teammates and gives you even more time to goof around with them. But with messing around came dedication.”
