As the new sports season springs into action at the Ojai Valley Upper Campus, the golf team swings into action as they take to the greens with clubs in hand and determination in their hearts to improve their game and compete with other schools.
This year’s Ojai Valley School golf team has a wide range of experience and skill across the board. The team is made up of players who started in middle school to players picking up a club for the first time with the OVS team.
As the last season of sports began, the golf season has truly kicked off. They have been playing year round, but finally are able to demonstrate the fruits of their efforts as they compete in tournaments against other schools.
This year’s first tournament had a total of four OVS students competing in the competition, including Hangjun Zhang (also known as Jerry), Ray Hsu, Towako Hiramatsu, and Matthew Galgano.
These four competed against 5 other larger schools in an exciting match and, despite the tough competition, managed to snatch second place overall.
OVS junior, golf player of two years, and only female golfer on the tournament team Towako believes the team performed well overall and that it was a good experience seeing what level other highschoolers compete at.
“I was kind of nervous because everyone on our team is a boy…It was just totally different power” says Towako “ But it was challenging me and it was good for me to see around my same age how they’re good at it…It made me more competitive”
Current senior at OVS and long-time golf player Matthew played competitively multiple times throughout his high school career, from his sophomore year up until this year, when he managed to hone his skill enough to take first place in the tournament.
Matthew believes that the OVS team is a strong team capable of competing with other schools and taking even higher placings in tournaments and games.
When asked about the future outlook of the gold team at OVS, Matthew seemed more confident in the team’s capabilities.
“For the rest of the season? I’m thinking that it’s looking pretty good,” said Matthew. “During the league final there’s some pretty competitive players from different schools that were not at these smaller game so that’s something to look out for, but it should be a good season overall.”
While the team has only had two tournaments, they are more than prepared to put in the effort to take the next step into becoming better players, ready to take on any challenge ahead.
“Golf is a life-long sport” said Towako.
