Robert Deng has every right to take pride in what he did for St. Margaret’s boys golf team this season.
In the three postseason team tournaments in which he played, he posted the low round for the Tartans, including two scores that were in the 60s.
His consistent results were good enough to make him the Register’s boys golfer of the year.
But every time the conversation started to take a turn toward his scores or his personal accomplishments, the Harvard-bound Deng quickly changed the subject or redirected the praise to his teammates.
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Boys golf coach of the year: Rocky Parker, St. Margaret’s
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“There wouldn’t be much motivation for me to be playing if it wasn’t for the team,” Deng said. “And this year I made a commitment to the team that I would play every match as opposed to previous years when I focused on school or other tournaments.
“This year I was 100 percent for the team. I didn’t care about myself as an individual. I just wanted the team to do well.”
The Tartans did just that, becoming the first team in program history to make it to the SCGA Southern California Championships. The Tartans likely wouldn’t have made it that far without Deng, who finished the three-team tournaments with a 69.3stroke average.
He started St. Margaret’s tournament run with a 2-under-par 70 during a downpour at Talega Golf Club to help the Tartans finish second in the CIF-SS South Coast Team Regional. The 70 was the lowest round posted that day in San Clemente.
A few days later, he fired a 2-under 69 at the SCGA Qualifier at Mission Lakes Country Club in Desert Hot Springs, helping St.Margaret’s finish fourth and earn the final spot in the SoCal Regionals. Deng was one of two players to break 70 in that tournament.
“I don’t want to focus, though, on my score in a team event. It puts me too much in the spotlight,” said Deng, an 11-time medalist who set the school’s single-season record for birdies with 46. “Everybody tried their hardest and that is what is important.
“From my perspective, yeah, it was the last time I was going to play CIF, and as the captain, I am in a leadership position, and I not only wanted to represent my school in a positive way, but I also wanted to be a leader in the way that I acted and through my scores.”
At the SCGA SoCal Championships, Deng posted a 3-under 69, the low score for the Tartans. It put Deng into the CIF State Championships as an individual, but St. Margaret’s finished seventh and failed to qualify as a team.
Deng was one of three county players to make it to the state championships at Quail Lodge Golf Club in Carmel. He finished tied for eighth, shooting even-par 71.
Contact the writer: ddottore@ocregister.com
