With a steady, strong start to the 2025 golf season this year, the Varsity Boys’ golf team has taken their season in stride. Since the start of the season, the players have had a clear goal of what they want to achieve. 

“Going into the season, our goal was to return to where we were. We lost some key seniors, so we wanted to focus on going strong,” said Jesse Serata (‘25) in regards to the team’s progress thus far. 

Suffice to say, the high expectations that the team has had for this season have most certainly been met. The team has had a great record this season. To kickstart the season, the team broke 2 records at Clearview Regional, with the previous scoring record of 147 being overtaken by a 145 scoring record, as well as  Tyler Whitney (‘27) breaking previous player Vince Kwon’s record of 33, coming in at 32. 

Following that match, at their match-up against Bishop Eustace Preparatory at Woodcrest, the team beat their previous record as they accrued a record of 142, beating the 145. 

Overall, the boys have had an incredible streak thus far. At the Garden State Cup, Jesse Serata placed 8th out of 120. At their match-up against Cherry Hill High School West, the team won out with a 149 score total. Beyond that, the team has gone on to win the matches against Cherokee, Shawnee, Kingsway, Lenape, Eastern, and West Deptford.

As of now, the team has beaten out their own rank compared to last year as well, taking the title of 7th in the whole state of New Jersey, and 1st in South Jersey.

“Our strongest match-up has definitely been against bishop eustace,” said Ethan Baroway (‘25), one of the other strong varsity players of the team this year. “We’ve been pretty balanced as a team with even parred rounds from all varsity members. I think that’s why our team works so well,” 

Going into mid-May, the team will have some of their bigger match-ups and tournaments to finish out the season. They’ll be playing Moorestown, Rancocas Valley, and Cherry Hill West once again. 

However, the team is gunning for the tournaments this year. They have sectionals on May 7th, which the varsity team feels especially excited about. From there, they’ll face off at the Olympic Conference and State Championships. 

For seniors Ethan Baroway and Jesse Serata, the season is a great opportunity for them to finish strong for their final season at East. 

“I think that it is a really great way to go out, I’ve been on the team since freshman year, and played varsity every match. When I was a freshman, we were a pretty young team, but we have definitely grown as a team and have gotten up to the point of being state,” said Baroway. 

Indeed, the team has strong plans to follow their previous record as the South Jersey champions at sectionals, and bring home the trophy for State Champions, set last year by the varsity team. 

Overall, the experience of this season has brought the team close together. 

“My experience at East has been more about the journey. I started sophomore year, and have just kept trying to get better. We are generally connected as a team which is pretty hard to get in a sport like golf,” said Serata.