They say a strong sports season is the easiest way for a school to raise its endowment – which makes one wonder if the fundraising at Holy Cross High’s annual golf outing on June 22 was really about the annual golf outing. Either way, the alumni and benefactors attending Monday’s event could only detach themselves so far from one simple fact: The day marked the final chapter of a Holy Cross golf season beyond recent comparison.
Archbishop Molloy is typically the shining standard on Queens fairways and greens, but 2009 was a different story. For the first time in head coach Keith Goggin’s career, the Knights played the role of legitimate Division I title contender, ultimately finishing in a tie for first with an 11-1 record. That one loss in Molloy’s identical finish came courtesy of Holy Cross, which stunned the Stanners while Molloy was carrying an 8-0 mark.
“Three teams have typically been above the rest of the league: Fordham Prep, Iona Prep, and in Queens Molloy’s typically the one that you’ve got to shoot for,” Goggin said.
The Knights benefited this past year from a unified team that had shared the home course at Clearview Golf Club before and was just approaching the peak stage of its players’ abilities.
“They had played together in the last few years,” Goggin said. “They fed off of each other. It was a cohesive group.”
Senior Jaani Tassa led the charge, earning an invite to the 2009 state championship along with Tom Gonzalez and finishing third among the Queens crowd.
“All in all, it was a productive year,” Goggin said. “We beat teams that we shouldn’t have, and I lose my number-one guy, my senior, but I get my four [other] guys back.”
Happily for Goggin, Tassa is the only player who will leave the team this summer. Gonzalez, the No. 2 who never lost in match play this season, is a junior. No. 3 Luke San Antonio and No. 4 Andrew Haralampoudis (CQ) are sophomores, and Goggin expects good things from each of them.
The best way for his players to improve this summer, he believes, is to play golf – and then to play some more.
“The key is to get out and play,” he said. “It’s tough when you’re a 16-year-old kid in Queens to not have country club memberships like some of these other kids. [But] junior PGA, local tournaments – that can only help.”
The rain had just passed over Monday’s outing, and Goggin had to get back to some golf of his own. No doubt his thoughts that day were in the same place as everyone else’s: on an impressive golf team that looks awfully poised to join Molloy’s club in 2010 and beyond.
