Head Coach Michael Frates has watched Dartmouth High’s varsity golf team qualify for the postseason every year since he began coaching the program five years ago. For the past two years, the team advanced as far as the sectional tournament, and individual players went on to qualify and compete in the individual tournament.

This season will be no exception, Frates hopes. The team is already off to a great start with a 6-2 record so far.

“We have 16 matches and have to win half of them to qualify,” Frates said. “We are already pretty close to that.”

Four seniors moved on from the program last year, so Frates is working with a relatively young team, which consists of one senior, six juniors, six sophomores, and five freshmen. Frates said the team is doing well, but he is still working to improve players’ performance on an individual level.

“I’m just working on getting them to play consistent golf,” Frates said. “Golf is unique in that we are a team, but it’s very individual.”

He said he has a simple rule he tells each team member: if any of his players get in trouble on the green, he expects them to get out of trouble quickly.

“Instead of hitting that miracle shot, it's better to settle for the bogey sometimes,” Frates said.

Frates said that support from the school adds to the team’s success. Frates is one of the only golf coaches in the area to have an assistant coach, which he said is a huge benefit for the team.

Ross Parker, the team’s only senior, said he is spending his final year on the team helping out younger players as they get back into the season, while at the same time improving his own skills.

“When the season started, I wasn’t playing as well as I was last season,” Parker said. He said that as the season goes on, he is getting back into the game.

The team has its next match against Barnstable on September 27.