The varsity golf team has started off the 2017 season with a 2-4 record.
A player to watch this season is junior Noah Siman. Siman finished off last season with a trip to the state tournament as an individual at University of Maryland, finishing in ninth place. Another Patriot who is set to make an impact is junior Cameron Diamond. Diamond, who has just returned after going to Jewish Day School for a year, was just shy of making the state tournament as a freshman back in 2015. This is the year he is looking to bounce back. The team is also looking to get a boost from senior captain Simon Bloch.  Bloch believes that this year’s team has the potential to improve off of last year’s success. “We are a better team this year and we are way deeper than we were last year,” Bloch said.
The season started at Worthington Manor on Aug. 31, where the Patriots faced off against Churchill, BCC and Whitman. Joining Siman, Bloch and Diamond on the starting lineup was senior Zach Kerr, junior Andrew Peng and freshman Ethan Chelf. The starters were chosen by coach James Long, in his Long’s second year as the team’s head coach. The team did not look like their usual selves as they were unable to defeat any of their three opponents, finishing the day 0-3. The short game was an issue. They were unable to convert putts, which drove their scores up. Even after the loss Siman still sees positives to build on after their first match. “Even though we lost, I think we can be happy about how we played because it was only our first match,” Siman said.
In their second match, the Patriots faced off against Whitman once again as well as Walter Johnson and Northwest on Sept. 7 at Falls Road. The team bounced back after their last match to beat Walter Johnson and Northwest. Overall, the team was considerably better at their short game, as they made more putts on the green than they had in the prior match. The returning players lead the way as Bloch, Siman and Diamond had improved since the last match. Diamond credited the team’s bounce-back performance to the teamwork showed. “Our team bonded together and became stronger after we lost. It allowed us to play better our next match,” Diamond said.
The Patriots were back in action as they take on Quince Orchard, Sherwood and Whitman on Sept. 14.
They were unable to play well as they finished the day 0-3.
The team took on Northwest, Sherwood, Walter Johnson and Churchill on Sept. 19. This match was late to be covered in this issue.

Ethan Reff

JV Sports Editor