The Aliso Niguel Boys golf team has recently begun their 2024 spring season.
The league season officially started on Wednesday, April 10 with a league match against El Toro High School at the Tijeras Creek Golf Club. The Aliso golf team took home a win at this match for the first of the season, making their league record 1-0 going in.
After many preseason games that helped in preparing the players for league matches, the team currently stands at a 7-3 overall record. This forecasts an optimistic future for the rest of the ongoing season.
The team’s league matches follow a pattern of going up against the same school twice in a row, one home and one away. The games’ opponents go in the order of El Toro, Trabuco Hills and Capo Valley ending with league finals as the golf season is notably short due to lack of schools participating from the Sea View League.
The intensity of the season ramps up quickly as well considering the fact that the next league match took place just the next day on Thursday, April 11 against El Toro again, this time a home match at the El Niguel Country Club.
The rest of the league season runs until May 1 which is set as the day of the last match. The league season plays a comparably smaller role in golf as opposed to many other sports, largely because of the relatively few schools with competitive golf teams in the area.
The coaching at matches between Coach Westling and Coach Turney alternates to have a balance of the instruction.
Coach Westling, who is also a teacher at Aliso, comments on the golf team looking forward to the future, stating, “This is a great young team that is very motivated. Their love for golf shows greatly in their play.”
Some matches still take place that are not part of the league season, including the one against Mission Viejo High School on March 26 at the Aliso Viejo Country Club. This match resulted in a 191-202 win for Aliso. Still, more non-league matches occur in between the league ones, against the same opponents as those the team is currently playing, but not counting towards either team’s league record.
High performing members of the team include Austyn Le (10) and Wyatt Dalby (10), both boys Coach Westling named as players to watch.
Austyn Le (10), one of the members of the varsity team, shares a comment on what the golf team sets out to do: “We hit balls, they go in holes. Simple as that.”
The Aliso golf season officially ends on May 29 with the CIF State Championship. The team’s performance in league matches will determine how far they continue to play in the postseason for a title, with both individual and team possibilities.
