The Bison golf team traveled to Pine Hill Golf Club on Wednesday, Sept. 27, where they unfortunately saw their season come to its closure. 

However, the season was filled with many accomplishments and tons of improvement.

The Bison knew that this year would come with multiple challenges, the main one being that every golfer on the varsity team was a sophomore. 

The team consisted of Co-Captain Gavi Lappen, Co-Captain Ethan Malek, Lucius Venditti, Cameron Feuerman, and Arel Magence. These golfers knew they would have a lot on their plate due to the graduation last spring of James O’Neill and Jonah Wolfe, two key players. 

 “Going into the season losing James O’Neil was a very big loss, but we all stayed focused and we all wanted to get better,” Malek said. 

This is exactly what this young team did, and while they struggled to start the season they ended up overcoming their early hardships to finish with  a respectable 4-5 record. 

What isn’t shown in this record is that every golfer on the team shaved off strokes throughout the season, while overcoming the fact that the entire team was composed of underclassmen. A  big accomplishment this team had was only shooting two more total strokes than the 2022 season. 

To just barely fall short of where they were the year prior in spite of losing great talent is nothing short of remarkable. Another accomplishment this team achieved was bouncing back to win four straight matches after the tough start that they went through. 

Going forward, this team is eager  to improve on this 2023 season, and while many strides were made by the whole team this year, the best is yet to come. 

With a team that consists of  all underclassmen, there is a ton to be excited about going forward.

“Something that I am looking forward to next season is the skill level that our team can put forth because knowing that we are all sophomores gives us all hope that we can become a lot better for the future years,” Lappen said.

As a leader of the team, Lappen looks to carry the successes of the season into his two remaining years left of high school golf. 

“On a personal level, I was proud of myself putting in the work and having amazing coaches for helping bring my score down from an 85 last year to an 80 this year to get first place,” he said.

These numbers stand out while looking at the success of the underclassmen and the growth that coach Drew Pierson installed in everybody on the team. 

This wouldn’t have been possible without the consistent perseverance that this team showed. 

“Seeing how we practiced every day and how we progressively got better gives me lots of hope for how next season will turn out,” Lappen said.