On Wednesday we recognized our three Boys Varsity Golf seniors to celebrate what they’ve done for the program over the years. Here’s what Coach Gray had to say them..
Ella Cotter
Talk about a benefit of the pandemic. That Spring and Summer of 2020 she played something like 400 times. Her level of play has continued to improve each and every year. It goes to show what hard work and practice in the sport can do. I tell everyone out here, this is not a sport you pick up and move on with. You have to put your time in, and Ella has done that in spades in terms of putting in the work. She goes to sectionals on Monday at the Eddison club, which will be her first appearance in Sectionals despite qualifying for the past two years (illness and scheduling issues). This will be her first chance to play in a full tournament against just girls. I’m very excited for her to have that opportunity, and she’s going to do very well. Ella has been a tremendous asset to our golf team. She’s someone I’ll miss moving forward, it’s been so nice having her on this team.
Devin O’Connor
I’ve coached this guy since 7th grade when his older brother was on the team. He’s another one who just by playing and playing year after year, has gotten so much better and so much more mature. He has really settled into his role. Devin has been a perfect #2 for Ryan, they play very well together. He’s one of those individuals I feel like I’ve had forever on the team! So next year when he doesn’t show up in August, it’ll be an adjustment for us. This kid can hit it a ton, and he’s going to continue to get better. If he wants to work at this game, he can be a tremendous golfer, even more than he already is now. It’ll be fun to see where this takes him, and where he goes from here. He will be missed.
Ryan Arp
Ryan came to our golf team as an 8th grader. Right away it was apparent that the golf bug bit him hard. His first day, I can remember like it was yesterday at the Sunny Hill driving range. He had a baseball swing, a very shallow swing. He was duck hooking everything. I told him he had to be a little steeper in his swing, and you could tell he knew exactly what I was talking about. He was very coachable and saw the improvements right from that one little suggestion. From there, he just took off.
I’d love to say I can take credit for his success this year and everything he’s done, but he’s put a tremendous amount of work in. Those of you on our team can see what can happen in such a short amount of time. He just started four years ago, and here he is. He’s going to be one of the top golfers going into our sectional round. He has an average of 37.08, which is just unbelievable. He’s contemplating what he wants to do in the future next year, in terms of possibly having a golf career or going to school for golf. He’s got a ton of talent, and it’s going to be fun to watch these next couple of weeks in sectionals and the state qualifier round, because I fully anticipate he’s going to be in the mix. I’m so happy for Ryan to see the reward that he’s seeing from the hard work he has put in. It goes to show hard work has paid off.
All three of you, I feel like you’ve been around forever. It has given me a chance to get to know you, and know you well. You will be missed. It’s been such a good run and I can’t believe this season is winding down already. Thank you so much, it’s meant the world to me to watch you all grow up.