The varsity golf team has three members that continued on to the regional tournament after winning districts on Sept. 19 and 20. Sophomore Jonathan Zou as well as seniors Hunter Jewett and Tommy Schilder all continued on to the tournament.

“I became interested in golf when I went to a congressional tournament and have been playing for six years,” Zou said.

With practices beginning almost a month before school started, the team worked hard towards this goal. They met three times a week, usually at their home course, Hidden Creek Country Club.

“We are either practicing, in a match, or playing in a tournament throughout the month of August,” varsity golf coach Rick Eyerly said.

Despite the winning rate of the team, golf is not one of the school’s most popular sports, even though the athletes are doing well this season.

“Golf is definitely underappreciated here, because we don’t practice at the school, and you have to come out to watch us since we’re in the middle of Reston,” Zou said.

Even though Zou has only been playing the sport for about six years, he is already on varsity and has been one of their top performers along with Jewett and Schilder. All have had a match this year where they shot even par. “Even par” is the term for when a golfer uses the same number of strokes as a hole’s par rating, or when the golfer matches the 18-hole par of a golf course for the entire round. People familiar with the sport know that is an extremely good score.

“I am trying for college golf; it just depends on how the next couple of years go,” Zou said.

As for the girls club, they will be competing to earn a regional and state qualifying berth in the coming weeks. This has also helped the six females with their academics.

“Golf in its nature requires great ability to focus on what you are doing. Personally, I think that it helped me get focused faster and make less mistakes on tests or assessments,” freshman Emma Lee said.