Each of the six members of the Wolverines golf team entered his final hole of the first round of CIF competition with odds stacked against him.
The boys were a few strokes behind Notre Dame for the third and final spot in the first round of CIF to advance in playoff competition.
A 30-yard chip-in birdie from co-captain Michael Aronson ’13, a birdie from Adrian Berger ’15 and pars from the rest of the squad on each of the players’ 18th hole allowed the squad to finish one stroke ahead of Notre Dame to move on in CIF.
“I told myself that a birdie on the 18th could potentially give us a chance to go to Regionals, and I just remember not being able to feel my legs when the chip went in,” Aronson said. “I’m so proud of the guys for finishing two-under collectively on all of our last holes.”
For the first time since 2010, the boys’ golf team advanced to the CIF Regional round of playoff competition before being eliminated on May 10 in Palm Desert.
The team needed to finish in the top four out of 21 of the top teams in Southern California. The boys missed out on the top four by 15 strokes. Bakari Bolden ’14 led with a team with a score of 73 and Aronson followed with a 78.
Aronson said that if the team minimized careless mistakes, it would have been able to move on in CIF competition.
“Our coach asked us after the round how many strokes we could have easily shaved off our score, and it was more than enough to help us advance,” Aronson said. “I’m still extremely proud that we made it as far as we did.”
Bolden was the team’s leading scorer for most of the season, and he finished in third place in the Mission League individually. He was unable to repeat his individual Mission League crown from last year.
Bolden committed to play college golf at USC.
“I had a good season overall, but it was tough balancing school and golf, especially around CIF,” Bolden said.
Although Bolden failed to repeat his individual title, he has pride in what the Wolverines as a team were able to accomplish.
“I am so happy and proud to call myself a Wolverine,” Bolden said. “The team improved tremendously since last year and I couldn’t be happier. So many players stepped up when we needed them most.”
The team will return varsity players Bolden, Jeffrey Aronson ’15, Berger, Daniel Furman ’16 and Tyler Graham ’15 as well as gain Head Coach Kewalremani’s son Brandon Kewalremani ’17, who is one of the top junior golfers for his age group in the nation.
