On the windy afternoon of April 25^th, Kent School’s varsity golf team headed to Watertown Country Club for its match against Taft and Kingswood-Oxford School. Because the first two matches were cancelled due to poor course conditions and bad weather, this season has been slightly off-schedule, which prevented the Lions from warming up early in the season. Especially because the team lost in the first match held just a week ago, the stakes were high for Kent.

Two veterans and four newcomers started slow in the game, but gained momentum around the 9^th hole. Unfortunately, a heavy rain began to pour. Cold and wet, the players hoped for a forfeit, but the coaches agreed to finish all 18 holes. At the end, Kent finished better than where they had started, but the final scores was just shy of Taft and Kingwood-Oxford’s. The final score was Taft 410, K.O 410 and Kent 430.

Head Coach Jeremy Sokolnicki reflects that although there seemed to be a slight “loss of focus” among players in the beginning, “the team managed to stick through the tough conditions and bad weather.” With eight matches to go, coach Sokolnicki is ready to fight back until the very end.

“This season’s team has lots of talent which they must deliver,” Sokolnicki adds. Captain Kentaro Tanaka ’15 holds a similar optimism. “It has been a tough start to the season, but we are just warming up,” Tanaka says. Considering the tough conditions the team faced, Tanaka simply thinks that Kent “didn’t have a very good day.”

Only a month into the season, Kent should keep a watchful on the varsity team as the Lions finish the rest of this season.