On April 24, Fresno Christian played their final WSL league match at Lemoore Golf Course – an 18 hole venture. The Eagles posted a team score of 453 for 18 holes, and because they had already clinched league, the other teams did not report scores.
In addition to winning the team championship, Seniors Jeff Roseth and Tyler Zaentz tied for the individual championship. Rather than playing extra holes, the teammates decided to keep the official record as a tie for first place, each getting crowned for the second time (Zaentz won in ’10, Roseth in ’11).
Coach Jeff Hopper felt that this joint victory was the perfect end to two outstanding high school careers.
“Tyler and Jeffrey each finished at a combined 145 for the 36-hole individual championship, sharing the league championship after Tyler had won in 2010 and Jeff in 2011.” Said Hopper. “What a great way for two good friends and outstanding competitors to complete their high school league careers! I was very pleased for both of them. The battle went back and forth all day at Lemoore, starting with poor play, then turning into a birdie war. Lots of fun to watch. Congratulations as well to sophomore Jason Kim, who finished fifth in the league as one of six medalists. Only one other medalist was not a senior, so this is a great accomplishment.”
The regular season now complete, the Eagles will next play in the North Area Tournament at Riverside Golf Course, May 7.
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The Eagles played their fourth WSL league match on April 23, at Sunnyside Country Club. Fresno Christian defeated the other teams with a score of FC: 228, Riverdale: 277, Fowler: 287, and Parlier did not post a team score. By winning this match, Fresno Christian clinched the WSL title for the fifth consecutive year.
Junior McKay Mohun cherished the opportunity to take league at the Eagles’ beautiful home course.
“It was one of my best games yet” Mohun said. “I was able to see how much I have improved. I enjoyed playing and competing with some of the different teams in our league. Sunnyside is one of my favorite courses, and it’s always a privilege to play there. Being able to clinch the league title at home was a great opportunity, and I’m glad we capitalized on it.”
Now halfway through the individual tournament, Fresno Christian will next play an 18 hole round to complete the competition at Lemoore Golf Course, April 24.
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The Eagles played their third WSL league match at Airways Municipal Golf Course, April 19. Back into the stroke play format, this match began the individual tournament between all players. The top six players after 36 holes are granted with All-League honors.
The Eagles won FC 220, Riverdale 245, Fowler 290, and Parlier did not post a team score.
Freshman Colby Lee enjoyed the individual competition and the obvious improvement of the team.
“It was a good match.” Said Lee. “I can tell that we are all getting better, and I think that it was weird that Chris [Grossman] and I tied, each shooting a 52. Although I wasn’t completely satisfied with my individual performance, I look forward to taking advantage of the next match.”
The Eagles will next play a WSL league match at Sunnyside Country Club, April 23.
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Fresno Christian played it’s second WSL match, April 17, at Lemoore Golf Course. The match was the second so far conducted under the Stableford format. The Eagles were again victorious, triumphant over the other teams by a score of FCS: 102, Riverdale: 50, Fowler: 48, Parlier: 28.
Senior Tyler Zaentz didn’t like the course or the competition, feeling that it isn’t as enjoyable when the scores aren’t close.
“The greens were awful.” Said Zaentz “I don’t like playing league matches because it’s not competitive. Any competition in our league is strictly between me and Jeff for the individual title. And considering that the match didn’t count for the individual championship, there wasn’t much at stake. I just kinda suffered through the round and tried not to let the condition of the course get to me.”
He thought that although the team’s performance wasn’t stellar, it didn’t matter much.
“We are so much better than the other teams.” Zaentz said “I mean everybody played pretty average. No one put on a clinic and we still dominated.”
The Eagles will next play their third WSL match at Airways Municipal Golf Course, April 19.
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On April 12, The Eagles played Kingsburg at Kings River Golf Course in a non-league match. The Eagles fell to the Vikings 232-246.
Coming off of a great score on April 10, the Eagles failed to rekindle the low numbers of the previous match. Kingsburg had a definite home course advantage, as none of FC’s players had played there previously.
Senior Jeff Roseth appreciated the opportunity to play a new course but was disappointed with the team’s performance.
“I really enjoyed playing the golf course because I had never played there before,” Roseth said. “and the guys that we played are great so I had really good time overall. The tough conditions made it tough to score, but even so I think that we could have played a bit better as a team.”
Despite the disheartening loss, the Eagles look forward to capitalizing on their lead in the WSL during their next match, a four team league match at Lemoore Golf Course, April 17.
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On April 10, the Eagles played their first WSL league match, at Airways Golf Course, against Fowler, Parlier, and Riverdale. The Eagles were victorious, winning 122-58 (Fowler)-55 (Riverdale)-50 (Parlier).
The match was played in a Stableford format, unlike the usual stroke play. In Stableford, each player gets a certain amount of points for each hole, pertaining to how many strokes he hits (Eagle-8 points, Birdie-6 points, Par-4 points, Bogey-2 points, Double Bogey- 1 point, worse-0 points). As in stroke play, 5 scores are counted for each team, and senior Jeff Roseth led FC with 42 points.
Freshman Christopher Grossman enjoyed the new format and felt that the team played excellently.
“Although Airways isn’t our home course, I think that the team played as good as we have all season.” Said Grossman “Playing Stableford rather than stroke play was a nice change and I look forward to playing in that format again. A round like this was a great way to kick off league play.”
The round was the first of five WSL league matches, but the Eagles will next play Kingsburg in a non league match at Kings River Golf Course, thursday April 12.
For more information on golf, check out the April 1 article, Golf sport shorts: Eagles place third in three team match.