Golf season is in full swing! New golf coach Frank Shiro and assistant coach Carter Kranz are keeping the AGHS Boys Golf team focused on the course with an eye on the eighteenth hole at CIF. While competition on the course is one of the main goals, building friendships has been a key player for the AGHS golf team.
“They definitely have a strong sense of camaraderie and support for one another,” Michelle Moncrief, mom of one of the players, said. “Usually, as a golfer, the player is hoping to do better than everyone else in a tournament, but on a team, you’re also rooting for your teammates to as well or better than yourself.”
The boys have found friendship on the course, in a sport that is usually individualized.
“Friendships are formed on the golf course, and they are strong friendships because they are spending like four to five hours with two to three other players,” Moncrief said.
The team continues to reminisce the late coach Jeff Byars, as some of the social aspects have been lost from previous seasons.
“I always just remember [Byars] taking us from the fourth tee box to the fifth. [He] still kept plugging away telling [to] use everyone else’s scores and stuff, and just cracking jokes because he was a pretty funny guy,” Austin Hales (‘25) said.
Friendship was definitely needed for the team in a year of loss, but the boys and new coaches are keeping some of the old traditions alive as the team perseveres through the season.
“It was a tradition in the van, first varsity tournament, you got to sing a song. We’ve kept that legacy going,” Hales said.
Parents and students were unsure of how the season would go, with new coaches taking over, but all were pleasantly surprised.
“They’re doing a great job, especially it being their first year coaching. No one knew what to expect, so we were all hoping that there was going to be a great coach,” Moncrief said. “I think Coach Shiro exceeded everybody’s expectations.”
Since the coaching changes, new training and practice has taken place to help the boys prepare for competitions and tournaments.
“It’s a lot more competitions instead of loosely practicing on the course. It’s more doing matches a lot within our team to prepare ourselves for matches outside of our team,” Lawson Potter (‘25) said.
Both parents and students have noticed the definite results of the new training regime.
“There are more players, [and] more players who are improving by leaps and bounds by being on the course every day,” Moncrief said. “And last year, the varsity team was almost set in stone.”
Even on days when the team or an individual doesn’t succeed, the team still holds their heads up high.
“They have had days when the course plays really tough, and the players were frustrated but then they came together after their round. They are able to vent and compare st
While golf is a serious sport, the team finds ways to continue to have fun while on the course.
“We kind of just hangout and joke around before but maybe like a half an hour before matches, we’re all locked in,” Potter said.
The team has high hopes as the season goes on, with CIF in the minds of all the players.
“I’m pretty ambitious. I think we can absolutely go pretty far in state,” Hales said.
The boys will continue on this season with winning as the ultimate goal, but even if unachievable the boys will be satisfied because of the friendships gained on the course.
“They’re excited if they do well, winning is always fun, but it’s not necessary to feel successful because there are a lot of little wins,” Moncreif said.
The boys golf team continues to be successful in the season thus far, and hopes to further their success in CIF.
