Central Valley’s varsity boys golf program has reason to be optimistic heading into the 2019 season.

“Our team is much better than the past couple of years,” coach Scott Edwards said. “If we play our top golf, we can beat anybody.”

The Hawks return three players from last year’s team, including Kadin Richardson (Jr.), Thomas Carrillo (Jr.) and Navraj Dosanjh (Jr.).

Central Valley’s top newcomers are Matteo Bonales (Fr.), Frankie Marquez (Sr.), Dylan Jacobson (Fr.), Sahib Dhaliwal (Jr.) and Marcos Gonzalez (Jr.).

Carrillo secured an individual berth to the 2018 Sac-Joaquin Section Division-IV Tournament.

Matteo follows in the footsteps of his older brother Anthony, Central Valley’s all-time greatest male golfer.

Anthony (class of 2014) was the top player in the Western Athletic Conference his senior, sophomore and freshman years. He qualified for Divisionals four times. He advanced to Masters twice.  Anthony earned a golf scholarship to UC Riverside.

“It’s nice having a kid like Matteo on the team,” Edwards said. “He’s dedicated and thoroughly enjoys the process. He loves the game. He wants to play all the time. He doesn’t have an ego. He understands that he’s going to do great things as an individual but he wants the team success as well.”

Central Valley will face different competition this year.

The Hawk moved from the WAC to the Central California Conference as part of the Sac-Joaquin Section’s league realignment plan.

The new-look CCC features seven teams: Central Valley, Patterson, Atwater, Buhach Colony, Merced, Golden Valley and El Capitan.

Central Valley placed fifth at the WAC Year-End Tournament for the second year in a row last spring.

“It’s definitely a step up in competition,” Edwards said. “It’s different. It’s less relaxed. The coaches take their golf serious.”