By Jay Bhati ’20, Contributor
As you probably know, this past all, the Country Day men’s golf team achieved what most teams dream of: reaching the state tournament. The varsity team was coached by Mr. Greg Faulhaber and was comprised of Hunter Folan ‘17, Thomas Mactaggart ‘18, Jack Gardner ‘18, Joey Hodson ‘18, and John Pettengill ‘18. The majority of these men have been playing golf for a long time, most since 7th grade.
The goal coming into the season was to compete with the various teams in the MVC, one of the best golf conferences in Ohio. The MVC scouting report changed throughout the year. In the start of the season, other MVC conference teams stacked up much better than Country Day, but as the season progressed, the men found that the other teams weren’t as good as they originally believed. Even after a shift in the scouting report, the state tournament was still a reach for the team. This all changed when the golf team competed in the Middle Town Christian Invitational in Browns Run. This invitational showed how good the golf team could be– they came out that day and dominated the course. Country Day then advanced through the rest of the reason, getting better every match they played. After the team competed in the district competitions, they didn’t think they would be able to qualify for state and, in fact, barely advanced.
The experience of going to a state tournament was amazing for the entire team. It was the first time going to any state competition for most the team (besides Pettengill, who has already gone to state for swimming). When comparing going to state in both golf and swimming, Pettengill said he believed that the golf team of ’16 had a better chance of advancing in the state tournament than the swimming team did. The golf team placed an impressive 6th overall in the state tournament, but Pettengill felt that they could have done better, something that was echoed throughout the rest of the team as well.
The team is losing only one player this year, Folan. The juniors he leaves behind strongly believe that the golf team can repeat their success, and place even better next year. They will be again coached by Mr. Faulhaber who, in Mactaggart’s mind, is “the best coach throughout the high school in any sport”. In varsity golf, Mr. Faulhaber’s job is more to help the players with their mental game then to coach them on their style of play. Mr. Faulhaber excels at just that and the players believe that they couldn’t have done it without him. The entire Country Day community is very proud of what the golf team has managed to do this year and are excited to see what happens next season.
