No wins, no problem; Bulldogs still having fu
MORGAN HILL — If you don’t have a sense of humor, an 0-8 start might kill you, which might be why the Sobrato golfers are still having the time of their lives.
Although winless through their first month of play in the Mount Hamilton Division, the Bulldogs were back at practice Tuesday at Coyote Creek Golf Club — looking polished in maroon polo shirts that might as well have read, “What, me worry?”
“They’re a pretty loose group of guys,” first-year coach Jeff Bernstein said with a grin. “They’re fun to be around. They like hanging out with each other and just enjoying the game. I don’t know what they like more, the match or the after-match meals at Chipotle.”
Jokes aside, the team does strive to do its best, but isn’t going to let a bad round kill its buzz.
“You’ve got to live and let go of things when you’re golfing or else you’ll get wound up and not play well,” said Reed Campbell, who’s averaging in the mid 40s. “If you don’t have fun, what’s the point?”
The Bulldogs had their moment in the sun last year, when they played Branham for the Santa Teresa Division team title match. Branham won, but both teams jumped to the Mount Hamilton superclass.
“Every team is so much better in this division,” junior Doug Bennett said. “We haven’t won a match yet. Last year, we were almost undefeated. That pretty much says everything.”
Their record does not tell the whole story. Sobrato came close to beating rival Live Oak in a preseason match, and has lost three matches by 10 strokes or less.
“We love the sport and we love our team,” Campbell, a junior, said. “If we don’t win, no big deal. We might win our next match, though. We play Santa Teresa’s JV team.”
Brandon Roth is the biggest bright spot. He expects to make the CIF-Central Coast Section Championships after narrowly missing the cut in 2008.
“I could have had it, but I didn’t do so well in our last match,” Roth, the team’s only senior, said. “I’m a little better now. My putting is better; my swing is better. I’m just trying to get everything down consistently.”
Roth typically shoots in the low 40s. He recently carded a 4-over-par 40 at Spring Valley Golf Course, and a 37 earlier this season. He hopes to drop his average into the high 30s.
“Brandon Roth is our stud,” Bernstein said. “I would love to see him shoot in the 30s, too. I’d say he has a decent chance of making CCS.”
