Loaded with talent, Central Valley’s boys golf team could experience its most successful season to date this spring.

Ceres High will be a work in progress due to its new-look roster.

“They show up and work hard,” Hawks’ first-year head coach William Bossard said. “There’s nothing they can’t accomplish.”

“It (lacking experience) doesn’t bother me at all,” Bulldogs’ leader Ron Edwards stated. “This team can only get better. That’s the way I look at it.”

Central Valley has a roster size of 13 student-athletes.

The Hawks return three players from last year’s team, including Emmanuel Campos (Sr.), William Montez (Sr.) and Adolfo Diaz (So.).

Central Valley has 10 newcomers: Diego Mendoza (Sr.), Cristian Bossard (Jr.), Gavin Butler (So.), Jamie Tsusui (So.), Charlie Green (Fr.), Noah Freitas (Fr.), Maximiliano Mendoza (Fr.), Aayden Vang (Fr.), Ayden Whitworth (Fr.) and Roghan Woodruff (Fr.).

Montez, Diaz, Bossard, Whitworth, Diego Mendoza and Maximiliano Mendoza start.

“We didn’t cut anyone,” coach Bossard said. “We’re trying to build a program. We have a great group of boys. They all work very hard.”

Montez enjoyed a career-year with the Hawks as a junior.

He earned second-team all-WAC honors.

He tied for ninth place in the conference’s individual standings.

Montez accomplished a first by securing an individual berth to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-IV Tournament.

“William’s a perfect example of what every coach wants in a player,” Bossard said. “He’s respectful. He’s got a great attitude. He works hard. He’s a friend to everyone.”

A newcomer to the sport, Diaz tied for 11th in the WAC’s individual standings as a freshman.

He led Central Valley with a 17-over-par 89 at the league championships.

Diaz also qualified for the Division-IV Tournament.

Campos was selected to the WAC Second Team junior year.

He ranked 10th in the conference’s individual standings.

Campos advanced to Divisionals for the first time.

Bossard welcomes the challenge of rebuilding Central Valley’s program.

The 2006 Grace Davis grad played golf at the college and high school levels.

He’s taught government and economics at Central Valley for the past eight years.

“I’m very new at this (coaching),” Bossard said. “But I know a little bit about the game. I played a couple years in college. I hurt my back really bad when I was 22. That ended my college career and any opportunities to move on from there. I try to motivate the boys the best I can. Golf is an amazing sport. It’s the ultimate test of individual athleticism. There’s nowhere to hide. It’s more mental than anything else.”

Ceres High has a six-person roster.

The Bulldogs return just one player from a season ago in Alexander Ortega (Jr.).

Landon Teng (Sr.), Jayson Trevino (Sr.), Isaac Gonzalez (Jr.), Zuriel Harold (Jr.) and Cooper Perez (Jr.) are newcomers.

“I only have one returnee,” Edwards said. “The rest of the kids have been playing golf less than a year. I want them to have a positive experience and enjoy the game.” 

Ortega and Perez are team leaders.

“Alex is a lead-by-example type of guy,” Edwards said. “He tries to keep everybody level-headed. Cooper is competitive. He likes to play the game.”

Ceres High’s golf program and the Ceres community suffered a devastating loss on Jan. 2 when Roy Randez passed away unexpectedly at the age of 16.

His presence will be missed during road trips, practices and matches.

“The kids don’t like to talk about it,” Edwards said. “We miss him. He was going to be my No. 1 player. He was a great kid. He had an outgoing personality. He would joke around. When he needed to be serious, he was. He was a fun kid to be around.”

Central Valley and Ceres High placed fourth and sixth, respectively, in the Western Athletic Conference standings last season.

The Hawks posted scores of 512 and 582.

“The boys know they have a shot at finishing higher in league this year,” Bossard said. “If we continue to work hard, we can be at the very top.”

“I’d love to finish in second or third place,” Edwards said. “But I got to be realistic. They’re all new to golf. I can’t expect a whole lot. A successful season would be for them to be better than what they were at the beginning of the year.”

Central Valley, Ceres High, Beyer, Grace Davis, Johansen, Lathrop, Livingston and Pacheco will compete at seven conference cluster tournaments leading up to the WAC Championships.

“I love it,” Edwards said. “You’re playing against all of the teams. Everybody plays at their home course. We have some really good players in the WAC.”

“It’s going to be a very competitive league,” Bossard added. “Our goal is to play our best every tournament.”

Central Valley and Ceres High will also battle for bragging rights.

“They enjoy seeing each other out there,” Bossard said. 

“They’re all friendly,” Edwards added.