With the school year coming to a close, boys golf was among the teams that capped off their season. In their first season back after six years, they currently have a 3-9 record. Their counterparts, girls golf, also made a long-awaited return, playing in the fall athletic season and ending 5-11. Although their win total may have been lower than they would have hoped, the 2023-2024 athletic season marked the beginnings of a golf comeback at Oxford.
Golf initially started in Oxford during the 2001-2002 athletic season, and the team had some fair success, consistently placing second or third in the league standings. However, diminishing student participation and the program’s expenses led to Oxford golf being taken off the budget. Golf is an especially expensive sport due to green fees, or fees for access to golf courses, and this accumulated after each practice and match.
Student and parent interest lingered though, and after support from the administration and appointments with the district, golf was reinstated this year. Another helpful factor, Oxford was fortunately able to find more affordable green fees from certain golf courses, who honored the school as a nonprofit and set up special costs. Currently, both girls and boys golf in practices at the Navy Golf Course, which is a 7-minute drive from Oxford.
Currently, Oxford’s administration fronts these fees, given it’s their first season. Moving forward, the hope is that golf will begin fundraising and receive enough donations to cover more of their expenses.
Beyond the program’s logistics, Coach David Vosskuhler has been responsible for mentoring both the new boys and girls teams. Due to members’ inexperience with golf and its competitive setting, the team has had to grow and adjust on the fly.
“I think the greatest challenge was that many of us haven’t competed before, and some of us are relatively new at golf,” senior Ollin Alvarez said. “It’s a new environment where we compete against another team and compare scores, rather than hitting and practicing on the [driving] range, so it’s out of our comfort zone sometimes.”
Alvarez also noted certain games the boys had, where high winds led to more errant swings, but the team hopes to learn from these early struggles. The team has worked together to grow and mentor each other; for instance, tips about hitting with harder clubs, such as drivers and woods, have helped less experienced members catch up to speed.
“We mess around a lot too. We’ve tried hitting the putter off the tee and stuff like challenging a right-handed person to hit with a left-handed club,” Alvarez said. “Sometimes, we just do dumb stuff like that and have fun.”
As for the future, golf will most likely be a sport next year, and Oxford administration has affirmed it will continue to be offered as long as there’s sufficient student interest. Although neither team made it to the postseason, experience will give the program time to grow and for next year, possibly a chance to see the boys play into May.
