The Paly golf season ended last week with the varsity team squeaking by with a winning record of 6-5-1.

The team came in fifth in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) finals and ended three spots back from automatically qualifying for the next round, as only the top two SCVAL teams qualify for the regional finals.

However, two golfers qualified individually by placing in the top seven individual scores at the SCVAL finals. Senior Will Haydon and junior Max Rausch qualified for the regional finals. Both shot commendably, 76 and 79 respectively, but failed to move on the CCS finals.

The six-win season includes one match won by default after opposing Fremont High School failed to showed up.

"Our team average score in each match this year was higher than the last few years," head coach Gerry Benton said, pointing out a sizeable weakness.

The golf team looked slightly different this year, after losing key seniors who graduated last year and one junior this year due to family issues. The team featured 12 members, and of those 12 only two were seniors.

"[Last season] we had the luxury of being able to field five players who could shoot around par on any given day. This year we had two of those five return," Benton said.

The Vikings started their season off strong, blowing past Los Altos in their first match back in March, 204-220.

Crosstown rival Gunn began to paint the picture for the remainder of the Vikings season in their second match. While the Vikings pulled off a 218-220 victory, the near defeat started a trend of close victories and losses.

The Viking’s one-stroke loss to Los Altos in the middle of the season put the team on a three-game slump, setting back any momentum the early season victories spawned.

Homestead and Mountain Viewed proved to be the hardest opponents to the Vikings. Paly lost in each of the all four meetings of the two teams. Mountain View’s fine-tuned golf team beat the Vikings by a combined total of 61 points in their two matches.

Cupertino, on the other hand, gave Paly the smoothest time. The Vikings back-to-back games, in late March and early April, vs. Cupertino, both went Paly’s way, including the 211-242 thrashing of the Pioneers.

Even though the season is over, some still see a new light in the future.

In his first year on the golf team, sophomore Max Rattner, has a positive opinion on the season. "We weren’t so hot as a team. But so what?" Rattner said. "I had fun and I shaved a couple of strokes off my game."

"I was really pleased with the enthusiasm of the many first-year players and can see the team performing much better in the future," Benton said. "There is great potential among the younger players, I am hoping and encouraging our players to work on their golf games… Improvement in the game of golf generally comes in small increments, so it’s crucial to be continually working to improve, particularly focusing on the weakest areas."