By Robert Roselle III
By Robert Roselle III
It’s a new year for the Riverside City College golf team and they are not having a good one thus far.
The Tigers have had some growing pains so far this season. After finishing in the middle of the pack of the season’s opening tournament, they have yet to win a conference match in six tries.
The bright side is that this team consists of all freshmen with the exception of sophomore Michael Traylor, which allows them room for improvement. Still, the team is not happy with their performance.
“We’re not doing too well this season and we could be a little bit stronger,” John Jensen said, a freshman here at RCC, “but we’re competing as well as we can and we’ll see how the rest of the season goes.”
As a young team, there are many factors that can be attributed to their down season, but the biggest issue is their lack of playing in matches against other teams.
That missing experience has hurt some of the players.
“The big thing is that several of these guys do not have match experience,” coach Steve Sigloch said “Tournament and match golf is different then coming out and playing with your buddies. The pressure is different. Golf is mentally tough.”
Though there seem to have been a lot of bad times, there are some bright spots so far in this season. A couple of players have really stood out this season despite the hardships.
“There are two players that are really doing well. One is Kendall Jenkins from Riverside Poly High School. He has been playing really well,” Sigloch said, “and the other is Michael Traylor, he’s actually getting better and improving on his game each week.”
So what are their goals for the rest of the season? The championships are not completely out of the picture.
The Tigers need to finish in the top five in the Orange Empire Conference in order to qualify as a team. Sigloch just wants to get better.
“We want to improve on our numbers as a team, whether we get wins or not. We want to improve on those numbers and get better for next year,” he said.
For the Tigers, this year is all about getting the experience for next season. They may not win a lot this season, but they will be a tough, better experienced team next year.