After a hard-fought spring season, the varsity boys golf team finished with no players qualifying for CCS, coach Kyle Bonvechio said.

“We fell short of our goal,” Bonvechio said. “[However,] I’m very proud that we were able to represent HHS with four golfers at League finals and that we were very close to qualifying for CCS.”

With league finals coming down to the wire, sophomore Aiden Chuah was the closest player to qualifying for CCS, Bonvechio said. 

While the end of the season was disappointing, Chuah said he plans to train and prepare more in the upcoming year. 

“My goal for next season is to qualify for CCS [again],” Chuah said. “[I want to] play more consistently, pop better, drive better in more fairways and such.”

Throughout the season, the team has grown stronger, Chuah said. Though the season may not have gone as expected, the team gave it their best effort, Chuah added. 

“The team was pretty strong, but we had some places to work on,” Chuah said. “I’d say we should probably work on teamwork and communication, which are pretty key aspects of the team’s [performance].”

This year, the varsity boys golf team had many new additions, with more involvement from younger players on the team in games, Bonvechio said. 

“We had several returners that played key roles for us this year, but we had a lot of [new] players that contributed in different ways,” Bonvechio said. “It was a breath of fresh air to have some new blood on the squad to help contribute this year.”

Despite their younger team, boys golf pushed through with new members and established a strong lineup of players that delivered consistent performances, senior Elliot Delile said. The season went as expected, if not better, Delile added.

“This season, it was the first time we’ve had a solid core four that could play in every single match,” Delile said. “That was really good for us to get a consistent low score, and then with our wild cards, we could shoot some very low scores. I feel like it made us more consistent, which led us to a better record.”

Even when setbacks happened, the new members were able to step up and strengthen the team’s performance, Delile said.

“One of our key players didn’t play this year because he had to work a job, so we had to work around that,” Delile said. “We got a couple of new players that came in, and they were able to put in some strong performances in the matches, which helped with the missing player.”

Additionally, Bonvechio’s more hands-off and bonding-focused coaching allowed the team to thrive both on and off the course, Delile said.

“He’s a coach that really lets us do whatever we want but still makes sure we’re sticking to the game,” Delile said. “[His coaching] has built a bond between everybody on the team, in which we’re all able to connect with each other and have fun when we go to practice.”

Ultimately, this season was very memorable, Bonvechio said. Although there are always things to improve on, Bonvechio said the experiences and bonds members have formed over the season are what made it worth it. 

“I’m proud of them,” Bonvechio said. “All of the kids worked hard throughout the year. It was fantastic to be around and watch them grow individually, as a team and as people.”