LJ b golf: 'We're in a total rebuild'

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's boys golf team is young, with a few seniors leading underclassmen.

"We're in a total rebuild," said Coach Aaron Quesnell Fri., Feb. 26, after the Vikings took it on the chin against host Torrey Pines, a county and state powerhouse, the day before.

The likeable coach noted that last year's squad "was all seniors. This year we have two seniors, plus freshmen and sophomores."

The younger players on varsity are "good, but they're freshmen and sophomores". Read that to mean the young'uns are playing well at this stage of their development, but they will continue to develop and get better.

La Jolla, as recently as 2016, won the CIF title. So the program has had a good recent history. On this occasion Thursday at La Costa, the match wasn't competitive stroke-wise, but, "Our kids got to watch their (Torrey Pines') guys." It seemed to be a good learning experience, despite the decisive result going for the Falcons.

The match against Torrey Pines was "very unusual", Quesnell said. The boys and the girls teams played together, "the first time ever". The different format was mandated by an attempt by CIF to combine events and limit the spread of COVID by not scheduling separate events for boys and girls.

Here's how La Jolla's varsity shapes up in this shortened COVID season:

Lane Kearney and Richard Chao, both seniors, will lead the full varsity. (They didn't play on this occasion. There will be more time for that in future matches.)

"Lane is quiet, reserved," said Quesnell. "Actually, Richard is the same. They're both more leaders by example instead of words."

Kaden Ward, the Vikings' best golfer Thursday, is the younger brother of Nolan Ward, last year's number one who graduated.

"(Kaden)'ll be a solid 'three'," commented his coach.

"Our fourth through sixth are going to bounce around. I don't know them that well,", allowed Quesnell. "Christie Quinn (the other coach) handled that (tryouts)."

"(Junior) Edwin Feinberg has turned into a big hitter, and he's improved a lot. He's hitting the ball well."

Jaxen Torbensen is another senior in the mix.

La Jolla's next boys match is versus Patrick Henry at Mission Trails Wed., March 3.