For the third year in a row, the Palo Alto High School boys golf continues to maintain its undefeated title by winning in its league championships after previously giving the boys golf team of Henry M. Gunn High School its first loss of the season with Gunn receiving a score of 183-195.
Sophomore Timothy Liu gives credit to the team’s ability to look at past mistakes and learn from there.
“We didn’t play as well at the beginning of the season, especially at Sunnyvale Muni [golf course],” Liu said. “ We felt like we left some shots out there every round. One of those rounds was against Homestead. We won the round, but everyone felt as though they could have done better.”
Coach Doyle Knight looks at it from a positive perspective and is excited about the rest of the season and the upcoming league championships.
“The team is doing great again,” Knight said. “They are consistently getting better which as a coach is exactly what you want to see happen.”
While Knight has been consistently impressed with the team’s overall performance, the actual team members believe that there is always room for improvement.
Knight believes that the team’s work ethic is what gets it through each game and what helps the team maintain its undefeated title.
“We have been so good because the players want to improve every year,” Knight said. “They love playing this sport and are enjoying the success they have built with the team.”
Overall, the team has won eleven out of its twelve games.
It’s now getting ready to defend their title for the League games with only two freshman players leading the team.
“I think that we’re a really talented and deep team.” Knight said. “Our bottom players are solid, and could potentially pass as starters on other teams.
The team is talented on its own, but Knight makes sure that the team has good technique and knowledge of the field the team will play on.
“I try to get our team to play tougher courses and tournaments to improve the skills they have taken upon themselves to develop,” Knight said. “I encourage them to be ready for a course they haven’t played by having them look it up on Google Maps and seeing the layout. I seek out advice from college coaches I met over the years on how they prepare their players.
The more prepared the team is mentally and strategically the better they will be.”
Since the team practices with other coaches and online resources, it has maintained its undefeated record.
Liu thinks that the teams mental game is what makes it strong.
“Everyone has gotten a lot more comfortable on the course.” Liu said. “Any jitters that we could have had at the beginning are mostly gone now that we’ve played a pretty good amount of matchers.”
As the boys golf team wraps up the season with the upcoming League Championships and hopefully Central Coast Section (CCS) [Championships], Liu is confident that the team has what it takes to continue its record.
“I think it’d be great to be able to keep this up, and I know we are certainly capable of it, as we finished undefeated in leagues last year too,” Liu said.
Liu acknowledges that the team has the hard-driving determination to uphold the amazing title of being undefeated and that it is willing to put all its focus into the game.
Knight knows the players have to balance things and works on helping the team members organize their lives to focus on the game.
“With all the other stuff they have going on in their lives I try to keep them focused and committed for the season,” Knight said.
On April 22, the boys golf team officially claimed its undefeated title for the fourth consecutive year with a record of 12-0 in league games and 14-0 overall.
The boys team won its first league match last Tuesday on April 21 against Gunn. They participated in the official league tournament on April 28 when the team played Los Gatos High School as well as Gunn for a second time. Paly finished with the lowest score of 361, while Los Gatos putted 388 and Gunn played 397.
After winning this major match, the boys team advanced to the CCS in hopes of remaining undefeated.
