Scottie/B.T. O’Bryan
Staff Writer
The Jamesville-DeWitt High School Boys Varsity Golf team hit green in the regular season with a winning record of 7-2-1. With the wrap up of the golf season including sectionals, and even states on the horizon, J-DHS’s golfers were mentally and physically focused on ending the season victorious in each of the remaining matches, and had high hopes to dominate in sectionals this fall.
Only six J-DHS golfers competed in the Section III Boys Golf Fall Sectional Qualifier held at Arrowhead Golf Course on Monday, Oct 8. The six, chosen based on their season stats, included senior Pat Cramer, juniors Matt Cappelletti, Will Havens, Abel Ratanaphan, sophomore Alvin Ratanaphan and freshman Jakob Ellithorpe. It was perfect golf weather, 75 degrees, sunny with a little bit of wind. “We couldn’t of asked for a better day of golf, especially since we didn’t have to be in class all day,” says Cappelletti. Ellipthorpe was proud to accomplish his goal he made before day one of the golf season. “Making sectionals was my goal before the season began,” says Ellithorpe. Everyone played well at sectionals, especially Pat Cramer and Abel Ratanaphan who both made it into states, in which a score of 83 or less was required to qualify for states. Pat Cramer and Abel Ratanaphan both scored an 82. Alvin Ratanaphan scored a 90, only 7 away from states. Going into States, Pat Cramer has one big goal; “I want to play the best that I can.”
Pat Cramer says the team was definitely utilizing practice time to be successful in the remainder of the season. “We focus and work hard in practice to hone in our skills for match days,” says Pat Cramer. Ellithorpe says practices are both “fun and serious.” Cappelletti agrees that the golf team has been productive in practice. “Everyone is working hard to win,” says Cappelletti.
Though the season has shifted from summer to fall during the golf season, the weather has held for the golfers. On colder days, the golfers would wear sweatshirts and play through the cold. On warmer days, the golfers would wear light clothes and play through the heat. “At the beginning of the season it was hot out since it was still summer. Now that it’s fall, it’s colder and there’s usually more wind,” says junior Logan LaTray. “(The) weather hasn’t really made much of an impact at all. We just play through it,” says Ellithorpe. Only wind played a factor in golfing performance for the entirity of the season, but the impact it makes is vital to a golfer’s success. “You have to accurately calculate the distance combined with the wind before every shot,” says Cramer.
One of the biggest matches of the J-DHS Boys Golf season was an invitational where both of J-DHS’s biggest rivals were also playing, Fayetteville-Manlius High School and Christian Brothers Academy. At the time of the invitational, both F-M and CBA had strong records, with F-M at 8-3 and CBA with a 7-3. “It was a pretty tough invitational since F-M, CBA, and (J-D) are all evenly talented,” says LaTray.
Coming into the season, all the J-DHS golfers had a goal in mind to be successful. “I set a goal to score par at every hole during a match,” says sophomore golfer Tom Cramer. “Even though that’s pretty hard to do and I knew it wasn’t realistic at all to expect to do that, it helps me perform better and gives me more confidence when I golf in matches.” LaTray worked on his composure as the progression of the season. “I wanted to not get upset over every little thing that went wrong. I worked on realizing that mistakes happen, but you just have to shake it off and move on to the next swing,” says LaTray. “Everybody wanted to improve one weakness in their individual game, which would help us to be more successful together,” says Cappelletti. There was also a team goal for all of the Red Ram golfers to achieve together; shoot under 200 as a team. “That means the average team score would be 39 and below,” says Pat Cramer. J-DHS’s golfers kept this in mind throughout the entire season and by the end of the regular season, they had accomplished their team goal in every match.
With only states left for the golf season, J-DHS’s golfers reflect highly on the 2015 season. “It was a great season and great time,” says Tom Cramer. With states being the final green, Pat Cramer and Abel Ratanaphan are still working hard to carry their success into the big competition. “I’m just gonna keep playing my game,” says Pat Cramer.
