The VVS varsity golf squad wrapped up a successful season by placing third in the North Region of 1A-2A golf, qualifying for the prestigious Arizona State Championships. Playing without senior MVP Brett Smith and newcomer Anna Arthuber, who played in position 2 much of the year, (both lost due to injury) the team struggled at the State Championships but really played quite well.
Juniors Felix Fritzen and Natalie Huyer led the way through the closing weeks of the season, improving each week and notching wins against regional rival Bagdad at home, and Canyon State in Phoenix. The team ended the season with a dual match record of 8-2 and a solid third place finish in the North Region Tournament. Felix Fritzen and Natalie Huyer were named to the All Region Team, and Natalie went on to place fourth among all girls in the state.
Freshman Sebastian Braga and 
MeMe Bill continued to improve and will join several new students next year in leading the VVS team. Sophomore Eric McNut continues to play well and will be a valuable addition to the 2008-2009 squad as well.
I can't say how proud I am of this team - playing the last half of the season without two of our best players - and still finishing with an 8-2 record and meeting our goal of qualifying for state was quite an accomplishment. I really look forward to seeing what we can do next year!
MeMe Bill's 3 iron reached the green on this long par 4 at the State Tournament!
Senior MVP Brett Smith Lost to Injury
Senior Brett Smith, Team MVP in 2006, All Region, All-State and undefeated in AIA play over two years has been lost to injury.
Brett broke both bones in his lower leg in a freak accident on the VVS campus on April 12 and underwent emergency surgery the following morning. The 2 hour surgery was very successful and Brett will return to both the soccer pitch and the golf course in the future, but his high school career ended just as he was looking forward to defending his regional championship.
The team will devote the remainder of our season to Brett and even without his stellar play we look forward to accomplishing our goal of defending our North Region title and returning to the Arizona State Championship Tournament on May 7 and 8.
Brett ends the year with a scoring average of even par, undefeated in high school match competition, and carrying the lowest scoring average in the North Region.
Brett's Golf Resume:
Conference Champion, Community Sports Conference 2005
State Champion, Community Sports Conference 2005
Team Medalist 2005, 2006, 2007
Team MVP 2006
Team and Region Medalist 2006 (AIA)
Team and Region Medalist 2007 (AIA)
Tournament Champion, North Region Tournament, 2006 (AIA)
3rd Place Arizona State Tournament, 2006
Undefeated in two years of AIA match play
Golf Team Extends Win Streak
The VVS varsity golf squad ran their North Region winning streak to 8 matches dating back to April 2006 with a solid win over Salt River High School on April 5.
With Brett Smith sidelined, Felix Fritzen stepped up and led the team to the win by shooting a solid 43 (9 hole match) on the always challenging Talking Stick golf course in Scottsdale. Natalie Huyer and Anna Arthuber turned in good rounds as well to lead the Coyotes to the 16 stroke victory.
The team has a busy week (April 9-13) with one away match (Williams H.S.) on Tuesday and two home matches on Thursday and Friday. Thursday's match will be our most difficult of the season - against state powerhouse Valley Lutheran. We'll need our best performance of the year to hang in there with Valley Lutheran but we should be back at full strength by then. Brett Smith and Anna Arthuber will miss Tuesday's match at Williams, so it will be up to Eric and Sebass to play very well.
Look for a detailed story about our three matches and photos by the end of the week!
VVS Brings Bagdad Home Win Streak to a close with 153-168 Victory!
The VVS Varsity Golf Team opened our defense of our North Region Championship Title with a strong win at region rival Bagdad High School on February 28. Playing in winter conditions (46 F and winds gusting to 25 mph) the team played very well. The Bagdad home course is a difficult, tight par 60 course with long pars threes (one plays at 240 yards) and out-of- bounds just behind many greens. Given the conditions and the nature of the course we were very pleased with our play.
Notably, Bagdad had not lost a match on this course in three years – the course serves as a huge home advantage for the Sultans and we feel very fortunate to have escaped with the win over a strong team. Bagdad was the only blemish on our regional record last year as they defeated us on their home course in a tight match.
Leading the VVS team was senior Brett Smith.
Brett’s even par round of 30 was pretty amazing given the conditions and the fact that he has been nagged by an injury (possible broken left thumb). Brett really stepped up and led the team – as he’s done for two years. Brett has been he medalist in every match in which he has played in the last two seasons – an accomplishment probably unmatched in the state.
New students Natalie Huyer and Anna Arthuber followed Brett’s 30 with scores of 40 and 39 respectively. Playing in the number two and three spots Natalie and Anna hung in there, played thru the wind and played their opponents dead even. Quite an accomplishment given that on this particular course Anna and Natalie were forced to play from the men’s tees (in AIA matches girls usually play from the forward tees, boys from the men’s tees).
The shot of the day came from Anna Arthuber
who stepped up to the par 3, 240 yard 9
th hole facing a 25 mph headwind. No one had made par on the hole all day and the boys in Anna’s group had both driven short of the green. Anna, like Natalie, was forces to hit driver to the small green guarded by an out-of-bounds fence to the left and trees to the right. And – in a “here’s one for the girls” shot of the year, Anna absolutely BLASTED a drive into the wind that carried about 240 yards in the air! Her par on the 9
th was the only par made on the whole during the match.
Felix Fritzen had a tough day on the greens but posted a respectable 44 for our fourth score of the day. In AIA matches 5 players compete and the winning scores is the four lowest scores.
We’ve got a long break now (the entire month of March) as we return to play the first week in April. Stay tuned for updates as the season progress.
VVS Golf – North Region AIA Champions!
VVS 2007 Golf Season Gets Underway
The VVS Varsity Golf season got underway on February 14th with our first day of practice. Even with a mix of rain and snow early in the day, it’s still warm enough for golf in Sedona!
The 2007 team hopes to match or better the very good play of last year’s AIA 1A-2A North Region Championship Squad. That team went on to finish in the top 15 at the AIA state tournament in Tucson.
The 2007 squad is led by senior Brett Smith – last year’s MVP and medalist. Brett went undefeated in individual play in 06, won the regional medalist title and finished third in the state tournament. Brett has spent most of this year focusing on soccer so it will be quite a challenge for him to match last year’s level of play - but Brett has such good hand - eye coordination, and is such a "feel" player ... we expect him to return to form quickly. In fact, his swing looked very sound on day one!
Also back for 07 is Eric McNutt, last year’s number 4 player. We look for improved play from Eric this year as he challenges new students Felix Fritzen, Natalie Huyer, Anna-Sophie Arthuber and Sebastian Braga for a scoring spot on the team. Felix, Natalie and Anna are all from Germany, all experienced players and all three hold great promise for us this year.
Anna-Sophie has been particularly sharp in her individual play this fall and winter. Natalie and Felix are both outstanding athletes (soccer and basketball) and should come around and play very well by the time the regional tournament rolls around. Natalie might be the best female athlete at VVS – she was a strong contributor to both our girls basketball and soccer teams. Sebastian, only a freshman, has really improved this year and hopes to break into the top 5 of the team as well.
We have far better depth this year than last and look for more consistent scoring from our number 3-5 players this year – we’ll need that to break into the top ten at the state tournament if, of course, we get by regional’s.
The 2007 team will be coached by Don Smith and Dr. David Bill. Both Don and David have AIA regional (Don) and regional and state (David) titles on their coaching resume. David is a past champion at Oak Creek Country Club and served as the varsity golf coach at Sedona’s Red Rock High School in the past. David is the father of freshman MeMe Bill, an outstanding athlete (soccer, dance, golf) who holds great promise for VVS golf this year and beyond. MeMe is just a very solid athlete, bright and competitive and will improve every week. Look for MeMe to challeng for a spot at number 4 or 5 by the end of the season.
The VVS squad will continue to practice at the beautiful Sedona Golf Resort, and will play home matches at SGR, Oak Creek Country Club, and Verde Santa Fe Golf Club.
Stay tuned for results and weekly updates, and player profiles as the VVS 2007 golf squad looks to repeat as North Region Champions!
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