by Jackson Hongtong ‘21

The Sherwood golf team placed fifth as a team in the state championship, with a combined score of 619 from all four players for both days. Freshman Bryan Kim took home second place in the individual state championship, losing by only one stroke to Jack Griffin from Walter Johnson. The first day of states was a decent one for the Warriors, with Bryan Kim leading Sherwood with a score of 72 for 18 holes, followed by sophomore Scott Ervin who put up an opening round score of 76. Junior Joe Murray shot a score of 78, and junior Ronnie Kim with a first round score of 81. The combined score of 306 didn’t put Sherwood on top of the leaderboard, but gave them a top-five place heading into day two. The team took a step back on day two of states, scoring a combined score of 313, eighteen strokes behind Churchill.
“We didn’t do as well as we would’ve liked, but it was good to end the season making the cut [to qualify for both days of the state tournament]” said Bryan Kim.

Sherwood entered districts with an impressive match record of 14-3-1, giving them the second best record in the Yachmetz division behind Churchill, who eventually won the team state championship. To qualify for states, a team must take the top four scores from their team from the district tournament and add them up together. If the total score is less than 328, the team qualifies for states. Ronnie Kim, Bryan Kim, Murray, and Ervin were the top scorers for Sherwood, who led them to qualify for states with a total team score of 306, the fourth-highest out of any other school in the county.

“This is one of the best teams I have had as a Coach. We have a solid core of juniors on the guys side that will be returning for next season,” said coach Thomas Nakamura. “We also have some young talent on our practice squad, and I know that they have a bright future and will soon be contributing members to our starting lineup. This year, we also had five young ladies compete in the girls matches, and two of them even qualified for the state tournament. Our team has a very bright future for both boys and girls golf.” Nakamura, a former collegiate golf player himself, just wrapped up only his second season of being head coach of Sherwood’s team.

Although the Warriors did not win, this run at states was a step in the right direction. Having a young team performing as well as they did only makes the future more promising. The golf team comes into next season with even higher expectations than before. Another year with a similar core, bringing back all state championship competitors, is only poised to get better. Next year, the hopes of a state championship will become even more of a reality, attempting to avenge this years fifth place finish.
“The team [next year] will definitely be stronger, so winning districts and states is very possible and something we will aim for” said Bryan Kim.