Boys golf, unlike other sports, only has a varsity team. Given the increasing interest in joining the golf team, many less experienced golf players were cut from the roster of 12, senior Wyatt Hook said.

The lower number of spots due to the exclusive varsity level makes it harder for players to join the team, and not having a JV level is intimidating for new players looking to join the team, Hook added.

Golf player, junior Anthony MacDonald said having only a varsity team does not make joining easier or harder, but instead allows the coach to evaluate players based on their unique skill sets.

“Having only a varsity team makes it a lot more fun together,” MacDonald said. “With a JV and varsity team, there might be some stigma between players of each level which would decrease the fun with only one team.”

More skill is required to join the varsity team, but there is a practice team for those who are cut but still wish to improve their golf skills with varsity players, MacDonald said. Practice team players play with the varsity team but are not allowed to play for our school.

Golf player Owen Chau said he was initially nervous heading into his first-ever high school tryout because of the increased interest this season, but he eventually became confident he would make the team. 

“As a freshman, I heard from others that the golf team was really easy to make and [tryouts] were no cut,” Chau, a freshman, said. “Since there were a lot of people trying out this year, I was kind of worried, but, after a few tryout games, I knew I’d get on the team and do pretty well.”

For Chau, having only the varsity team is a reasonable policy as there are not enough skilled or dedicated players to warrant the existence of a JV team, he said.

“It’s a fair decision because golf requires quite a bit of skill and experience,” Chau said. “So narrowing it down to the amount of people that have played for a while is fair.”