By Dick Sparrer
It was a tough way to open the season... on the road, playing a tough team on its home course.
But that's just the task that faced the Los Gatos golf team when the season began last week.
It wasn't the way head coach Jim Marino had planned for the season to start. His Wildcats were supposed to open at their home course at La Rinconada Country Club against Fremont. But Mother Nature had other ideas.
So the Cats were forced to open the 1996 season at Pacific Grove, and the Breakers are especially tough at home.
They certainly proved to be in this match, breaking 200 with an impressive combined score of 199.
Los Gatos lost the nonleague match, but the Cats played well in defeat, coming through with a strong 217 on the par-35 course at Pacific Grove.
Senior Hamilton Souther led the Cats with a 38, and sophomore Matt Cuevas came through with a 41. Soph Sean McIntyre shot a 44 for the Wildcats, and freshman Mike Vivona and junior Ramien Ebadypour each carded a 47.
Senior Justin Burkes and sophomore Kyle Detrick, Mario Salice, Chris Atherton and Brian Chase are other top players on the Gatos squad this season.
It was a solid start for a team Marino expects to do well this year. But he also expects the league to be tough.
"The league returns some outstanding golfers," Marino said. "Each school has three or four of their top players returning."
The coach rates Palo Alto and Gunn as the favorites, with his own Cats as a contender.
"Palo Alto and Gunn are traditionally strong," he said. "But the league is the most balanced it has been."
The Cats were to open the league season at La Rinconada against Mountain View on March 12, and will take on Mission San Jose at Sunol on March 18 in a nonleague match.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, March 13, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved