On Monday, April 10, the boys varsity golf team traveled to Egypt Valley for the Forest Hills Northern Invitational. This was their first match of the season, and hopes were high. The Rangers, along with 22 other teams were excited to get back on the golf course, especially with the beautiful weather. The boys were facing off against powerhouse teams like Grand Rapids Christian and Catholic Central, but they did not back down. Overall, as a team, they finished fifth place, which is pretty good for their first match.

Philip Murdock, a junior captain, shot a team-low 78. He finished 11th overall, out of over 100 golfers.

“It feels good to be back playing outside after a long winter outdoors, and it is even better to have a strong showing in our first tournament,” says Murdock.

In talking with the team, the guys seemed pretty happy about their performance. They proved that they could keep up with some of the best golfers in the state and that they, too, should belong in the conversation of a powerhouse.

Despite this amazing showing, the team still has plenty of things to work on. The boys struggled in the bunkers, and Coach Teneyck says that they will be working on those as well as getting out of trouble this week in practice.

Nicholas Notarnicola, another captain of the team, told me that, “As a team, I see a lot of potential in us as a team and I feel like after we practice more we will get a lot better. Individually, I will build off my performance and use it as motivation.”

With a long season ahead, there is always room for improvement, but the boys varsity golf team members should be incredibly pleased with their performance, just like their coach.

“Overall, I was pretty pleased with the way we played.” Says Coach Teneyck. “Egypt Valley is an extremely tough golf course and for the most part, we did fairly well.”

The boys will be back in action tomorrow, April 12, at Brookside Golf Course, at 3:30 PM.