Soph improves Knights’ golf
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
An extra year of experience on the golf course has made a big difference for Simran Charan.
”I feel much more confident now when I am over my shot,” the West Windsor-Plainsboro North sophomore said. “I still have to work on my putting and I have a lot of room to improve, but I feel like I am much more consistent with my play this year. Last year was my first year playing high school golf and I was all over the place.
”I would shoot some low scores and I would shoot some real high scores. This year one of my goals coming into the season was to shoot consistently low scores. I want to try to be in the high 30s and low 40s as much as I can.”
As a freshman, Charan was in the top six the entire season for the Knights, finishing with a 41.2 average for nine holes. This year, his average is at 43, but he’s been more consistent over the last few matches. In the Knights’ last five times out, Charan has a pair of 38s, a pair of 41s and one 46.
”He’s had a nice run lately with a couple of 38s,” WW-P North coach Trevor Warner said. “Last year a lot of the focus was on Dan (Trink), who was also a freshman for us. Dan wound up winning the (Mercer) county tournament and had a great year. But Simran was also in the top six for us all year and had a nice season.
”But this year you can see he is much more relaxed out there on the course. He came into this season knowing he was going to be part of our top two and he spent a lot of time working on his game. He’s really matured a lot the last year.”
Charan, along with Trink, have been the leaders on a team that features quite a few newcomers to the varsity level. It’s an unusual leadership position for a pair of sophomores, but leadership positions they have embraced.
”We’re real young,” Warner said. “Dan and Simran are the only real experienced players we have back. We have four sophomores and two juniors in our lineup. And in some of our matches, we’ve had five sophomores and one junior.
”Dan and Simran have done a nice job of giving us two constants and the kids have been coming along. We’ve gotten better since the start of the season.”
Charan knows he can play even better golf down the road, but he’s been making steady progress thanks to putting a lot of effort into his game.
”I feel like I found my swing late last season,” said Charan, who started golfing about six years ago when his father brought home a set of clubs. “I went to see some people and talk about my swing. I feel more confident now. I think having that extra year of experience is a big thing. It takes a while to get used to the format with the matches and getting to know what is expected of you.
”Over the summer I was at golf camp and spent 10 hours a day on the course. It was a lot of long, hot days, but I think it helped me with my mental preparation and gave me an edge.”
Charan knows it was a lot of time to spend on the course, but he feels like it was time well spent.
”It was tough,” he said. “But after the experience I feel like I am a much better golfer and a better person. I am getting tougher and understanding what needs to be done.”
And he’s helped a young group of Knights see an upturn in their record as well. After a 2-4 start, North has won three straight matches, including a sweep of Hopewell and Hightstown in a tri-match last week.
”It’s been fun this year and it has been different,” Charan said. “Last year we had two freshmen and four seniors. This year has been more of a learning curve for all of us because we’re all so young. We have a lot of guys who played JV last year, but they’re learning what needs to be done.
”We feel like as we all gain experience, next year we’ll be even better. When we look at the other teams in Mercer County, a lot of them have seniors in their lineup. So next year we’ll be the experienced team out there.”