On Monday, Sept. 18, all JV Boys and JV Girls golf teams competed against eight other high schools in an introductory par 3 golf tournament at Balcones Country Club. Both boys and girls teams received either first or second place in their respective divisions.

“By entering two teams in both Boys and Girls, we had a good chance to place,” Assistant Golf Coach Paige Scharchburg said. “I didn’t expect to take every medal, but I’m very glad we did. This is a great way to start the year off.”

Unlike most golf tournaments, the golfers split up into four-person teams to compete rather than individual matches between one Westwood golfer and two golfers from other schools, allowing Westwood team members to socialize with each other during the game. Additionally, all 18 holes in this tournament were par 3, resulting in a shorter playing time due to less distance from the holes.

“[The tournament] was really informal so it wasn’t really that competitive,” Shruthi Srikanth ‘25 said. “We were kind of just hanging out.”

Starting at hole 1a, the Westwood Boys 1st team came in 1st place overall with a score of 181.

“We all played pretty well together,” Dylan McCarville ‘26 said. “For me, I hit some bad wedge shots but it is what it is. I hit a lot of the greens and made a lot of balls.”

The Westwood Girls 1st team’s total score of 194 brought them to 1st place among the girls’ teams, and 2nd place overall. Throughout the game, Caroline Arnett ‘24 hit three birdies at the 8th, 14th, and 17th holes, contributing to the team’s relatively low score.

“[The tournament] was a really good learning experience,” Brandee Benson ‘24 said. “It was our first tournament of the year so it was a lot of fun for everybody. I think we all performed great. [Highlights included] getting to spend time with the team and golf together. I’m really happy and I’m really proud of my teammates. I think we put in good effort and [the results] show how hard we worked over the summer.”

The Westwood Boys 2nd team finished the game with a score of 220, putting them in 2nd place among the boys’ teams and 3rd place overall.

With a total score of 223, the Westwood Girls 2nd team came in 2nd place among the other girls’ teams, and 5th place overall. The most impactful challenge to the Girls 2nd team’s performance was the heat. The temperature rose into the low 90s in the afternoon, and most of the course was not shaded.

“It wasn’t our best tournament but we tried our best and we got happy feelings out of it,” Iris Chen ‘26 said. “Individually, I think I definitely could’ve done better. I had a lot of silly shots but overall, it was more of a fun experience than a competitive one. [To deal with the heat], we drank a lot of water and talked to our teammates to keep them uplifted.”

Throughout the tournament, the coaches drove throughout the golf course, providing lunches, snacks, and water to all of the players, as well as words of encouragement and advice. Since Balcones Country Club was the Westwood golf team’s home course, the Westwood coaches were in charge of setting up the tournament and communicating with the other coaches to create a more comfortable playing environment for the golfers.

“[As coaches], we can give [the Westwood golfers] advice on their swings and help them adjust their grips,” Head Golf Coach Blake Boyett said. “But once they get on the putting green or when they start putting, we cannot coach them anymore for that hole.”

According to Srikanth, the introductory tournament was a low-stress preparation for the higher-pressure tournaments later in the year. Because the Westwood teams practice at Balcones Country Club almost every day, most of the team expected to win at least one medal in this tournament.

“I think that we play more holes than almost any other golf team in the area, and that translates to on-the-course performance,” Coach Paige said. “We’re very excited for our kids. Their hard work has been clearly paying off, and we hope for many more [victories] this year.”

The JV Boys 2nd team will compete in their second tournament of the year at Lions Municipal Golf Course on Monday, Sept. 25.