Quality depth will serve Live Oak well for years to come
SAN JOSE
You can’t blame Tom Sumpter for thinking ahead.
The calendar had just turned to 2011 when the Live Oak boys golf coach began asking if the Central Coast Section Championships would return this spring to their traditional location at Carmel’s Carmel’s Rancho Canada Golf Club. It has been three years since the Live Oak boys team last produced a sectional qualifier, Kevin Mom in 2008. But Sumpter has a feeling his players should get familiar with Rancho Canada’s West Course, if not for this year then next.
The Acorns’ top six scorers are underclassmen. Half of them play year round in Northern California Golf Association Tournaments and youth events. They can shoot between the high 30s and high 40s on any given day in nine-hole match play, just as they have done regularly for the Acorns this season.
“It’s a very young team, but a lot of them have been playing every day since they were in eighth grade,” Sumpter said. “When we came out at the start of the season, all of a sudden, I thought we were going to be an OK team. Then I thought we could win a league title.”
At 7-5 overall and third place in the Mount Hamilton Division at 3-3, Live Oak is all but out of contention for its first conference crown in more than a decade, but runner-up would be just as big. Consider the top two teams advance four players to the May 2 Blossom Valley Athletic League team playoff, where the top two teams earn optimal representation for sectionals.
Also consider the Acorns’ roster. Entering Wednesday’s match against Leland at Coyote Creek Golf Club, sophomore Cameron Moeller led the team with an average of 41.6, followed by the Jarvis twins, sophomore Matt and Michael at an apropos 43.1 and 43.8, respectively, and juniors Marc Noble (45.2) and Ben Hartl (50.3) and sophomore Gordon Gunther (51).
“It would be huge if we could get our entire team in,” said Matt Jarvis, who was medalist Wednesday with a 3-over-par 38 on the Valley Course. “We’re going to be playing together for a while. So we’re shooting for that.”
Though they lost 219-220 to Leland, it is safe to bet the Acorns will bounce back. Among their strengths is a collective willingness to improve. That is ingrained in both Jarvis twins, who want to usher in the same success their half brother, Kevin, helped bring to the program in the mid-1990s, when Live Oak was a CCS power in golf.
“It’s definitely the family game,” Mike Jarvis said. “We play almost every day, any time we can get a round in.”
Like the twins, Moeller is thinking about playing in college. He has shaved only a couple strokes off his 2010 average, but he didn’t have much to improve, Sumpter said. Moeller was scoring in the team’s top five regularly by the end of his freshman season.
“There’s also room to get better,” he said. “I’d like to start averaging high 30s. I just have to keep practicing.”
Even when Moeller or the twins haven’t been at their best, the Acorns have survived with depth, “taking turns on who gets medalist,” Sumpter said.
“You’ve got to have a solid top five,” Matt Jarvis said. “Right now, we have a solid four shooting 45 and under … and two guys shooting around 50. That gives us a lot of confidence.”
So would playing together in Carmel in May.
