After placing second in the Central Coast Section finals on May 13 at the Laguna Seca Golf Ranch and finishing third at the Norcal Regional Championship on May 27 at Berkeley Country Club, the Palo Alto High School boy’s golf team is set to compete for a State Championship on June 3, at Poppy Hills Golf Course.
This is already a historic season for the Vikings, making it to their first NorCal playoff in 24 years, now with another chance at history with a win in the state championship on Tuesday.
According to head coach Doyle Knight, the difference between this team and past teams is consistency.
“The biggest difference is that, they’ve learned to just to play their game and not try to force things,” Knight said.
According to senior Ryan Chang, who is committed to Macalester College for golf, scheduling conflicts during the season limited their ability to win consistently.
“A setback that made us a bit skeptical at the end was our scheduling conflicts,” Chang said. “With many of our top players playing high level tournaments outside of school, we couldn’t always get our best lineup to secure a win.”
According to Knight, before the season he believed they could make it this far.
“I knew this was a special team,” Knight said. “ My two sophomores, Brian and Brendan, both improved from last year and my seniors also improved from last year.”
According to Knight, the Vikings have a shot at the state championship because they were close to placing first in NorCals.
“We only lost by a few strokes,” Knight said. “And I know my guys can go back and find two or three strokes each where they should have made that putt, or should have used this club instead.”
According to Chang, this team’s competitive drive sets it apart from past teams.
“A main difference between this year’s team and all our previous rosters is our drive to improve,” Chang said. “Every individual in our top 6 has the motivation to keep practicing year round, even when it doesn’t matter.”
The Vikings placed third in NorCals, behind the De La Salle Spartans and the Stevenson Pirates. According to Chang, to beat these teams, they have to limit mistakes.
“To beat teams like Stevenson, De La Salle, and all the Socal schools, we have to not make big mistakes,” Chang said. “At this level, you can’t do much if another team makes a ton of birdies, but nobody really makes large mistakes. If we avoid that, then I’m sure we’ll be in the mix for a state title.”
