On Nov. 29, the JV Boys Golf team was invited to the Lake Travis JV tournament at Lakecliff, coming in 10th place. Cooper Harty led the team with a finishing score of 78 and coming in the top 20. 

“It feels good, knowing that I can go out and perform the way I want to perform is nice,” Harty said. “In the tournament, this was a record of mine and I hope I can make my record better and better as the year goes on.”

Tanner Bert didn’t think he was going to do well and was very nervous before his round due not having the opportunity to practice over Thanksgiving break. However, Bert’s goal before every tournament is to go out and compete as a team even though golf is an individual sport. 

“The weeks before the tournament I worked hard on the parts of my game I struggled on during the tournaments before and worked extra hard to fix my mistakes,” Bert said. 

Alex Mata can relate to working hard these past weeks because he’s worked with his coach to improve on his weaknesses: chipping and pitching. Before the tournament, he felt excited and happy; however after the tournament, he knew he could have played better but reminded himself it’s just a learning experience. 

“I normally just tell myself to be relaxed, have fun and make the best stroke I can on each shot,” Mata said. “I usually don’t have a ‘score goal’ because then I pressure myself and end up doing worse. But I try to always have small goals that at the end of the day normally lead to a better score.”

Harty has noticed he’s gotten more consistent in his game because he’s now able to identify his mistakes and correct them on the next shot. He said he’s practiced putting himself in a situation he knows he’ll encounter, which makes him more likely to succeed. 

“My general goal in golf is to create new experiences with the team and eventually play in college going forward,” Harty said. “The goal is to always win, setting personal records is nice but the team always comes first in the sense of what I want to achieve that day.”

Mata’s general goal is to lower his scores per year: start shooting around 76 to 78 his sophomore year and then junior year 73 to 75. He said he wants to keep getting better and better and hopefully someday turn pro.

“I definitely feel like I have improved a lot on chipping and putting,” Mata said. “A couple months ago I felt like getting up and down was not that easy in some spots. Now I feel like I can count on myself to get up and down most of the time on the course.”

During Bert’s couple of months on the team, he’s started to notice that he now has much better knowledge of the game and can place his shots where I need too. One of his favorite things is being able to see how his hard work has helped him improve.

“A general goal in golf for me is to have fun,” Bert said. “I started this sport because I enjoyed it, and I don’t want to be at a point where I’m not enjoying the game.”