The West Ranch Wildcats boys’ golf team made it two wins in two Foothill League matches last week at The Oaks Club at Valencia.
Playing at The Oaks for the second straight week, all seven teams saw their scores drop on what was a windy Tuesday afternoon in Valencia. The Wildcats finished with a team score of 407, nearly 20 strokes better than second-place Hart, as they look to retain the league title.
West Ranch head coach Jeff Holen said the conditions made it difficult for everyone, and it showed with the Wildcats seeing their team score drop by 27 points from the first league match.
“Anytime you come out on top, you’re always happy,” Holen said in a phone interview. “But anytime you come out on top with a higher score than you put up last time — I really feel that we are a team that should be sub-400 every round we play, no matter the conditions.”
West Ranch was led by Tyler Sonnenberg’s score of 78, seven strokes more than the first league match. William Kei was just behind at 80, followed by Sean Bramen (82), Kai Willen (83) and Matthew Shimizu (84).
The top golfer on the day was Hart sophomore Luke Mifsud. He shot a 73 at his home course after missing the first league match.
“He’s continuing to perfect his swing,” said Hart head coach Steve Lindberg in a phone interview. “He’s continuing to, you know, play with more confidence and better course management and working to greatly improve his short game, his chipping and putting. And he’ll get there. But he just had a phenomenal day.”
Mifsud’s first-place finish was a big reason why the Hawks went from fifth in the first match to second last week. Coming in behind him for Hart were Kai Miyata (79), Cole Cardenas (85) and Trey Tadler (93).
Valencia finished in third with a team score of 438, followed by Golden Valley (451) in fourth, Castaic (459) in fifth, Saugus (469) in sixth and Canyon (510) in seventh.
“We’re inexperienced and young, so I think that second-place finish was really good for our team to build momentum,” Lindberg said. “If we stayed in that kind of a position, I think that would be incredible.”
Valencia’s Dane Jorgensen (81), Connor Pawlak (85) and Aiden Chroman (86) all finished in the top 10 last week, as did Golden Valley’s Tyler Suwansatit (81).
The next Foothill League golf match is scheduled for Thursday, April 17, at Sand Canyon Country Club. Until then, Holen hopes his golfers and the rest of the teams enjoy their spring break as they look forward to warmer days ahead.
“Hopefully it gives the guys a little bit of a break, because sometimes it gets to be a grind in high school when you’re out playing two or three times a week,” Holen said.
