Sonoma State Men’s and Women’s golf teams are gearing up for yet another successful season. When asked what his expectations are regarding the upcoming season, Head Coach Val Verhunce said that doesn’t like expectations, but he did state that, “If we manage ourselves correctly, results should be good.” Coach Val has coached some impressive teams in the past, including the 2009 National Championship-winning team. Someone else who has National Championship pedigree is the team’s new assistant coach, Jess Stimack.  His own team at Chico State finished second at Nationals in 2004, so it’s safe to say the team is under sturdy leadership.  

The women last fall fought hard and earned three top-fives out of four tournaments which included a third-place finish at the Dennis Rose Invitational. Additionally, the women managed to outperform every team in the classroom while managing an intense practice schedule.  The women achieved the highest GPA out of any sports team in the Fall semester averaging a 3.7 among all 10 students.   

The men, on the other hand, started off hot and won their first event of the season, the West Region Preview.  Freshman, Colin Huang, lead the team and finished second.  They continued their success with a third-place finish at the Wildcat Classic where SSU standout, Griffin Pace, won his first collegiate event with a score of 11-under-par-205 for the tournament.  Throughout the fall season, the men placed in the top three in all but one of their five events.  This consistency has contributed to their rankings.  

Both teams look to improve on their performances from last semester with great hope for this coming season. Freshman, Talia Gutman, had no finish worse than nineteenth and had a season-best finish of seventh place.  Sophomore, Lauren Garcia, also had a top-ten finish.  Their team has a lot of promise and Co-captain Sam Smedshammer said that, “We have a lot of new faces and new talent this year, the spring is going to be exciting for us.” The women have five tournaments this spring season, the first being the Bay Area Invitational in Oakland.  This tournament is hosted by Holy Names University and they will be playing at La Positas Golf Course.   

Last year, the men had a chance at Nationals after winning the CCAA Championship, but were cut short after finishing thirteenth at Regionals. This year, they enter their spring season ranked first in the region and ninth in the nation. Although they will not be playing with two of their starters from last season, they look to continue their success and give it a run at winning a national championship.  The men have six tournaments before the postseason and they will continue to show who they are and sharpen their skills to look at making another attempt at the National Championship. 

Co-captain, Jules Lavigne, had nothing but positive things to say when asked about his confidence going into this new season.  He said, “I feel like I’m very confident because we have our Regional tournament at home which is a great opportunity to qualify for Nationals.” He strongly believes that his team is close and that they have a roster full of good players who can consistently shoot under par.

The men’s first event this semester is Feb. 13 at Shadowridge Country Club which is hosted by Cal State San Marcos.  Each team’s full roster and schedule can be found on the Sonoma Seawolves athletics website under the men’s and women’s golf tabs and you can follow their journey on @sonomastategolf or @sonomaseawolves on Instagram.