Coming up on the eighteenth hole of Twin Oaks Golf Course, senior varsity golfer Kevin McConnin was one stroke away from winning the league tournament on April 30, after shooting par in the first round at Maderas Golf Course. A couple of swings later, McConnin had pulled off the victory in a close competition.
The tournament was an individual competition, so McConnin had to focus on the mental aspect of his game, unable to rely on his team’s support on the course. Scoring for golf tournaments are based on the tallied number of shots a golfer takes across all holes – the fewer shots, the better.
For McConnin, winning was no easy feat. “I was very nervous on the last hole, I needed to do well on the last hole to win, which I didn’t know if I could, but I knew I was playing well the whole day, which was tough,” McConnin said.
For the team, the tournament was a chance to prove themselves. Ten varsity players attended the tournament. Six of them played for team honors, while the other four, like McConnin, were playing individually.
Senior Matthew Dickey, one of McConnin’s teammates, was hopeful upon seeing the scores, but news of McConnin’s win was an unexpected delight.
“We were all surprised when that happened. He’s definitely good enough to win, but there were a lot of other good players playing too,” Dickey said.
This season marked Coach James Cassidy’s second year leading the program, and he saw major improvements in both McConnin’s and the team as a whole. “The team did well this year, Kevin improved quite a bit. He barely missed out on CIF last year, but this year he got to go. Last year we had one player attend, this year we had six, that’s a big improvement,” Cassidy said.
At the CIF San Diego Section competition, which took place on May 8 and 13, freshman Trever Cox was the only player to advance to the second round, after McConnin was sidelined by injury.
McConnin’s team leadership, stellar senior season, and dedication earned him player of the year, awarded at the team’s end-of-season banquet.
