The boys golf team prevailed against Warren High School in a nail-biting match on Thursday, April 28 at The Rio Hondo golf course. The entire team felt the immediate tension brought on by the Downey vs. Warren rivalry the second they walked onto the course.
“There was this intense pressure because Warren is our opposing school,” Joel Carreto said. “We were all thinking that we needed to win this one.”
The match started out with six players divided into three groups. Group 1: Paul Heidecker and Steve Gurule, Group 2: Christian Lee and Victor Ortiz, and Group 3: Joel Carreto and Justin Redd. As one group went up, the other groups waited quietly for their turn, providing support and encouraging concentration to the other players.
“This was one of the closest matches so far. Honestly, we were very lucky to win,” Victor Ortiz said. “We worked hard and it paid off.”
The boys strove to golf a game as close to thirty-six as possible. The match was anyone’s game throughout, causing the Vikings to become nervous about the outcome.
“You never really know who’s going to win until you add up all the points every player made,” senior Paul Heidecker said. “Seriously, every stroke counts.”
Joel Carreto finished the match using a wedge shot shooting the ball about 420 yards making a hole-in-one at the 9th and final hole.
The Vikings beat out the Bears by one in a close call match. Boys golf is now tied in League and is currently sharing the title with Warren. They played CIF playoffs on Monday at Brookside Golf Club and the captain Paul Heidecker will CIF individual playoffs on Monday the 16th at the Skylink in Long Beach.