Despite strong wind and intense heat, the mens’ golf team placed first at the Diablo Foothill Athletic League [DFAL] tournament. The tournament was held at Lone Tree Golf Course in Antioch on April 27.
With the win, Campolindo snapped a 6-year league title drought and advances to the NCS Tournament of Champions at Monarch Bay on May 11.
The biggest roadblock to the Cougars’ title aspirations has been Dublin. However, this year, Campolindo split the season series with the Gaels, and remained undefeated against all of the other DFAL opponents.
The boys clinched the DFAL championship with the victory at the tournament.
As a result, Campolindo can forgo the NCS Qualifier on May 4 at Lone Tree.
At the league championship tournament the squad shot 382 overall, led by junior Will Lagomarsino’s 73. Freshman Ryan Burnett followed with a 74, junior Mitch DiRaimondo shot a 75, and senior Robert Young and junior Austin Fischer both tallied 80 strokes. Freshman Edward Anya was the final scorer at 83.
Head coach Steven Robinson said, “It wasn’t our best performance of the year but within the team we had 3 strong individual performances and that is what carried the team through.”
Lagomarsino took 3rd place overall at the tournament. “I just, like, really wanted to win. I guess I didn’t make that many mistakes and I just played well. It was one of those days,” he said.
Fischer was proud of Lagomarsino’s strong performance. “I thought it was solid. He has been playing well all year and hopeful he keeps progressing,” Fischer said.
While Lone Tree presents its own challenges as a golf course, the weather was also an issue for the players.
“It was hot out there, but it was windy, which definitely affected my golf game,” Lagomarsino said.
Fischer said, “It was a little hot, a little windy, It was like 85, 90 out there. Conditions change too, the ball starts going farther [in the heat].”
Lagomarsino said that his previous tournament experience led to his success at the DFAL championships. “I play in like a lot of FCWT’s [Future Collegians World Tour], AJGA’s [American Junior Golf Association]. These are junior competitive golf tournaments and you don’t feel too much pressure when you’re out there [in the DFAL tournament] just because you have played in so many others. It’s just sort of another tournament,” he said.
Young agreed: “More tournament experience reduces how nervous you get.”
Although the team won the league title, Fischer, Lagomarsino, and Young all agreed that they must continue to improve throughout the postseason.
Fischer said that the team can improve mentally: “I think taking it [the tournaments] a little more seriously, because at DFAL, we knew that there was a pretty good chance that we were going to win.”‘
Robinson noted, “Only the top 3 out of the 20 schools can move on to Norcal’s and we have a very good chance of that if our 6 players play to the best of their abilities.”
