Royals Fall to Buena at Home

Tuesday, March 17

The luck of the shamrock did not bless the Royals today as they  fell to 1-4 after losing to Buena at Sandpiper Golf Course. San Marcos shot 411 to Buena’s 407. The high point for the Royals was junior Scott Bradford’s 74 which landed him honors as Medalist. Scott carded 7 birdies and an eagle on the day, an excellent showing. He was followed by Dodge Ward with a solid 78, John Etsell and Kyle Rieb posting 83 and 84 respectively. This was a disappointing loss, with the Royals off to their worst start in 15 years. Coach Siordia is confident we can bounce back against DP and Ventura with extra dedication and hard work.

Match at Montecito

Thursday March 12

The Royals met what many consider to be the best team in the state, last year’s runner up for the califonia State championship, the Santa Barbara Dons. The match took place at Montecito CC on another gorgeous Santa Barbara day.  The greens  were as quick as Coach Siordia has ever seen them .  We played a very solid front nine only falling a few shots behind Santa Barbara. But we ran into a little trouble on the back nine.  No one on the team improved off their front nine scores and only 2 players shot the same score.  John Etsell shot 39 39 for a 78 and Thayer White shot a 39 39 for a 78 as well.  We were led by Scott Bradford, yet again, with a solid 76.  Scott shot a (-1) 34 on the front.

Scores were as follows for SM:

Scott Bradford- 76
Thayer White- 78
John Etsell- 78
Kyle Rieb- 80
Jared Speier- 81
Dodge Ward- 81

San Marcos- 393 (lowest so far this year)
Santa Barbara- 365

San Marcos falls to 1-3 but hopes to rebound next week playing Buena, Westlake, Santa Ynez and Atascadero.

Rematch at Chester Washington

The Royals traveled to Inglewood on Thursday, March 5th to face one of LA’s perennial forces in high school golf, Mira Costa, on their home turf at historic Chester Washington Golf Course, a 6100 yd layout with Kikuyu grass. After a two hour van ride the team was ready to play golf! Dodge Ward repeated with another strong performance, along with junior Scott Bradford, each shooting 75. Each twosome in the group was pledged to at least match their opposing twosome. On the 488 yard Par 5 finishing hole,  Dodge Ward and John Etsell each needed birdie to match their opponents. Dodge launched a monster drive, reached the green in 2 with an iron and easily 2 putted for a bird. John found trouble with a hook off the tee, landed well short with a difficult 3 wood out of the rough, but fired a wedge to 3 inches and also tapped in for birdie!

The final team scores: 388 for the Royals, and 378 for Mira Costa on their home track. This was a close match and an excellent effort by the entire Royals team. After the match, Coach Siordia said he was “Very happy with the overall performance of the team– just ran into a powerhouse team on their home golf course.“

March 3rd–Opening Day at Pipe

The Royals opened their 2009 season on a sparkling, windless day rarely seen at Sandpiper Golf Course, or “Pipe” as Coach Siordia calls it.  Matched against a tough LA powerhouse, Mira Costa, (CIF champs in 2004 and 2006) and the boys from Hart, this first outing saw credible performances from all, led by Dodge Ward’s 77 and John Etsell’s 79. The Royals team score of 408 fell short of the excellent round of 388 posted by Mira Costa , but easily bested Hart’s 455. The low score posted by Mira Costa’s medalist was 73.

Team Meeting Summary, February 4,2009

Varsity tryouts will take place February 17, 18, 19.

The 17th, Rancho San Marcos.  Leave school at 12:30 by van (parked off C lot between the tennis court and Mr. Solis’s room).

18th, Twin Lakes tee time at 1:30 must get there on your own.

19th, Sandpiper, tee time at 12:30 must get there on your own.

The season schedules will be handed out after the teams are set.

Official golf season practice will start Monday 2/23.  Varsity will practice Mon-Thurs 12:30-3:30. Friday practice will be with Kevin Brown at Twin Lakes.  JV practice time will be announced.  Kevin Brown will also give JV a practice time slot.

Dress code: Matches:  SMHS shirt, light colored khaki pants tucked in with belt.  No baseball caps.

Practice: collared shirts, pants or shorts tucked in with belt.

No cargo pants or shorts, no mock shirts.

Coach has secured vouchers from the Habit for great food on the road when you must travel.  Be sure to say thank you!!

Team bonding is very important for a successful team experience and for building lasting friendships.  There will be hikes and basketball and other venues for getting to know one another. No matter if you are JV or varsity, let’s all strive to get to know one another.

RAG-T update:

Everyone received a packet tonight (thank you Debbie Dalee) with raffle tickets, prize info and an application for your team of 5.  Go out and sell those tickets!!  Contact coach or Debbie if you need more.

When you sell your raffle tickets, you just need a name and phone number on the back.  They don’t need to keep their portion and need not be present to win!

Get a pro to play on your team.  $1500 purse for pros.
If you know of individuals who wish to play, but don’t have a team, sign them up.  Contact coach and he will put them with a team.

Sponsor letters and thank you letters with tax deductible ID #  will be scanned and emailed to you when they are complete…just awaiting one signature.  Please use these to send to family, friends and businesses who might support us.  Remember prizes are needed and they don’t have to be golf related.  Meals, wine, spa packages, your favorite store that you do business in…anyone and anything is welcome!!

Coach has secured 2 great grand prizes (say thank you to Buff the next time you see him).

1. 2 nights at Squaw Creek Lake Tahoe with 2 rounds of golf (exp January 2010). An $800 value.

2. 3 nights with golf at Prospector golf course, Suncadia Resort (exp January 2010).  A $1500 value.

Thank you so much for all the hard work put in by Stewart White, Debbie Dalee, Jennifer Deacon and Coach Siordia.  We can all help buy selling those raffles tickets and getting prizes and sponsors.

Go Royals!

Katina Etsell

Team Meeting February 4

Please plan on attending a golf meeting on Wednesday, February 4th at SMHS room C1 at 6pm.

Coach will hand out raffle tickets and give a fundraiser update as well as tryout information and answer any questions before season starts.

January 7,2009 Team Meeting Summary

Buff Platt needs our boys to earn community service hours helping him run the First Tee program at Twin Lakes.  Not only a great way for our players to develop leadership skills, but also to encourage young golfers to choose San Marcos as their school of choice. There will be four 9 week sessions, beginning next Tues.  Tues/Thurs from 3:30 to 5:00 and Saturdays from 8:00 to 9:00.  Contact Coach Siordia to sign up.  All Royal golfers are expected to help with community service projects. Coach Siordia and Solis are finalizing the practice and match schedules.  They will be posted on our web site and emailed out to parents. JV try out times will be posted in the next couple of weeks. Varsity tryouts (open to all who qualify for the program)  will be held February 17,18,19  at 1 pm at Sandpiper, Rancho San Marcos and Twin Lakes.  All seniors are exempt from tryouts. Good luck! Players will need to maintain a 2.0 GPA to remain eligible to participate in the golf program. A dress code will be enforced for practice and matches.  Collared shirt tucked in.  No jeans, cargo pants or cargo shorts.  Golf hats only.  Well dressed Royal golfers respect the course, the game and their school!! All players who have not participated in a sport year to date, need to get a Physical Release Form.  You can go online to the San Marcos web site to download a form or pick one up in the main office.  They are blue and located on the activity table across from Ms Anderson. Don’t wait until the last minute…do it today. Plans for the RAG-T are progressing.  Many thanks to Jennifer Deacon for the fundraising letter that she has developed.  It is professional and inspirational and I’m sure you will all be proud to send it out to family, friends and potential corporate sponsors.  Stewart White and Debbie Dalee are hard at work on the RAG-T. Each player needs to put together a 5 man team and to sell a minimum of $100 in raffle tickets ($5 each).  The golfer that sells the most wins a new custom putter!! Fitness training will continue with Kevin Brown.  Ongoing sessions at $80 for 8 weeks…join when you can.  Core fitness for improved golf…you did want to make varsity, right?? Thanks parents for your continued support, and to our coaches for their hard work and enthusiasm.