Golf is an individual sport. There is no relying on teammates to cover for your mistakes, no using your teammates if you run into trouble, and nobody to take your place if you need a rest. Golf is meant to be an individual sport, but the boys golf team is just that, a team. They support each other in times of struggle and they push each other to always put 110 percent into their games. Golf is an individual sport, but it makes it so much easier with a team behind you.

“The team dynamic expects so much from each player,” coach Peller Phillips said. “They can’t go out and give 80 percent and not hear about it from teammates.”

The team is coming off a disappointing fourth place season. They look to improve this season with many key players returning from last year’s team, from which they lost only two seniors. The only thing this team has to watch out for is underestimating the ability of other teams, which has hurt them in the past.

The depth the team has is one of their greatest strengths this year. There are many quality underclassmen to back up the solid lineup of KingCo league contenders.

Consistency is another strong point with this team. The players have shown real dedication to improving all aspects of their games this summer, and it shows.

“I think everyone practiced a lot and was really looking forward to this year,” senior captain Charlie Davis said. “We all wanted to improve on last year.”

The goals of this team are simple. Beat rival Franklin and come in the top three in KingCo. They would also like to send more than one person to the state tournament for this year.

As Davis put it, “I don’t want to go (to state) alone this year.” Odds are, with the quality this team has shown so far, he won’t be alone.

Unlike most teams, the golf team has more than one rival. Besides the rivalry with Franklin, the team has a harsher, if not bigger, rivalry with Lake Washington because of their frequent attempts to call the Bulldog golfers on penalties. “They just try to cheat,” Davis said. At one point two years ago Davis and former Bulldog David Eaton almost came to blows on the course with a particularly relentless pair of Lake Washington golfers.

Despite all they have going for them this year, a couple factors could hold the boys from reaching their full potential this year. As with many of the Garfield sports teams, the golf team suffers from a lack of adequate funds. These lacks of funds mean less tee times for practice, and no uniforms for the team. Right now they are wearing white polo shirts as their uniform.

Even with no money, the golf team looks to be a competitive team in the conference this season. Look for more than one Bulldog in the state tournament next spring. This team has the ability and talent to achieve great things.