Before the season began, the Escalon High School boy’s golf team came up with four goals that they wanted to accomplish in 2018: go undefeated in TVL match play, go undefeated throughout the season in match play, win the TVL Tournament, and win the Section Tournament.
By beating Mountain House in their last dual match of the season on Wednesday, April 25, the Cougar linksters can check off the first two items on the list. By winning 235-403 over the visiting Mustangs, the Purple and Gold rolled to a league record of 12-0 and 18-0 overall.
What the Cougar golfers accomplished has not been lost on their coach, Rusty Fachner.
“Anytime you go undefeated it is a wonderful accomplishment. I don’t care what the level of competition is; having a perfect record is something to be proud of,” Fachner said. “Even more impressive is the fact that in all 18 wins we’ve had this season, only one match has been decided by less than 20 strokes. The guys should be proud of what they have done.”
In beating Mountain House, the Cougars once again relied on the balanced scoring they have exhibited all season long. Nolan Rockwell led the way with a 44, while Matt Spurgeon checked in with 45. Nathan Sarkozy added a 46 and Nic Lattig chipped in with a 47. Steven Gately and James Wentzell both finished at 53 on the day to complete Escalon’s scoring.
Earlier in the week, the Cougars took part in the Bulldog Invitational Tournament at Tracy Country Club. Playing in a very tough field of 18 high-caliber teams, Escalon managed to finish fourth overall. This made the fourth tournament of the season in which the Cougars have finished fourth or higher.
“It was a good tournament for us to participate in,” Fachner commented. “There were some really good teams from the Bay Area and a lot of larger schools. I was happy with the way we played.”
Taking fourth overall in the tournament was Rockwell as he posted a 78 for 18 holes. Lattig followed right behind him with an 88 and Sarkozy came in at 90. Spurgeon recorded a 91, Gately a 95, and Wentzell finished the scoring on the day with a 106.
“I was very proud of the effort we got from our two seniors, Nolan and Nic. Both of them played really well, and they seem to be playing their best golf at the end of the season when we need it most. They backed up their tournament scores with a quality effort against Mountain House as well. I’m really hoping that this is the kind of play that we’ll see in the two big tournaments we have coming up,” Fachner concluded.
The Cougars close out their season with the Trans-Valley League Tournament, which was scheduled for Tuesday, May 1 at Micke Grove Golf Links after The Times went to press, and then travel to Castle Oaks Golf Course on the following Monday, May 7 to take part in the Section Championships. If Escalon is able to win the Section championship, they will play in the Master’s Tournament at The Reserve at Spanos Park on May 14.
