TEMECULA — Chaparral senior Troy Song, like most golfers, started his journey in the game swinging a set of plastic clubs around his mom’s office.
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Chaparral’s Troy Song has been chosen the IE Varsity Boys Golfer of the Year, he putts the ball at the Golf Club at Rancho California in Murrieta on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
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Chaparral’s Troy Song has been chosen the IE Varsity Boys Golfer of the Year, he putts the ball at the Golf Club at Rancho California in Murrieta on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
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Inspired by a grandfather and father who are both scratch players themselves, he worked his way up the ranks and saved his best for last at the high school level.
Song was 13-under par in 90 holes of CIF postseason golf (72 as an individual and 18 in team play). He reached the state finals at Poppy Hills, recording a tie for 12th place to culminate his high school career. That included a pair of 5-under par rounds (one in the Division 3 team tournament and another in the Southern California regional finals) along with two top-10 finishes and a top-five finish in individual play. His round of 5-under par 67 at Corona’s Green River Golf Club in the Division 3 team tournament also would’ve been good enough to earn medalist honors in an individual event.
Song was also first in Southwestern League dual-match scoring average and recorded a third-place finish in the league tournament for a Puma team that finished tied for second behind champion Great Oak.
For these reasons Song has been selected the IE Varsity Boys Golfer of the Year for the 2025 season.
Song is the third Southwestern League golfer in four years to win this award, following Great Oak’s Nathan Sampson (2022) and Ryan Abuan (2023). He also is the fourth straight boys golfer from Southwest Riverside County to win the award, following Temescal Canyon’s Nixon Lauritzen, who won last year’s award.
“I definitely was able to check off all the boxes on my list in terms of goals I had for this season,” Song said. “There were definitely some happy tears shed on that final green at Los Serranos in the regional final when I realized that I had made it to the state finals after missing last year and that trip was just incredible. Hopefully, I’m the first of many Pumas who earn their way to that stage.”
It was a run that almost didn’t happen as Song was battling burnout through his first two years of high school. However, he gave a lot of credit to his parents and Pumas coach Jon Mitchell for getting him through that rough patch. A pair of high finishes in summer events before his junior year sparked his confidence and led to him recently signing with Cal State Dominguez Hills.
“I always knew that I had the physical tools to be a solid player,” Song said. “But golf’s a tough game which requires developing both the mental and physical tools and it wasn’t until recently that I’ve begun to put the pieces together mentally. I’m so grateful to Ron Eastman (CSUDH head coach) for the opportunity to join their program and to get to play close to home for a program on the rise is such a blessing.”
Golf’s reputation is as a country-club sport where the best players all belong to private clubs and get unlimited course time. Song is not among that group. He takes advantage of a Southern California Golf Association program called Youth on Course to get reduced green-fees at a couple of Southwest Riverside County courses and frequents practice facilities at Temecula Creek Inn, Golf Club of Rancho California, and the Murrieta Valley Golf Range.
“Each year he took a step forward and I can’t wait to see where he goes from here,” Mitchell said. “I told him that he could be better than Chase Frye (now at Cal State San Bernardino) and he rose to that challenge. He’ll leave as the best golfer to come through our program but more important than that, he’s been a wonderful leader and representative of Chaparral High School.”
IE VARSITY COACH OF THE YEAR
Jared Boyatt, Great Oak
Boyatt guided a young lineup featuring two freshman, two sophomores, a junior and a lone senior through the midseason passing of teammate Sebastian Glenn to an undefeated Southwestern League championship — the 16th title in program history — and runner-up finish in Division 2. Great Oak was 12 strokes better in nine-hole dual match average than a year ago.
IE VARSITY FIRST TEAM
Luke Bohmer, Linfield Christian, Sr.
Sam Bonzoumet, Riverside Poly, Sr.
Harrison Budz, Great Oak, So.
Gavin Carpenter, Santiago, Jr.
Grady Emerson, Riverside Poly, Fr.
Keshav Joshi, Chino Hills, So.
Samson Li, Diamond Bar, Sr.
Seth Looy, Yucaipa, Sr.
Jonathan Nolasco, Los Osos, Sr.
Troy Song, Chaparral, Sr.
Dominic Wilson, Great Oak, Fr.
Harlan Yapa, King, So.
IE VARSITY SECOND TEAM
Jacob Abel, Redlands, Jr.
Koa Baur, Great Oak, Sr.
Alfredo Guerra, Linfield Christian, Jr.
Rohan Mehtani, Santiago, Sr.
Matteo Neri, Etiwanda, Jr.
Angel Oliva, Etiwanda, Jr.
Archwin Sangsurasak, Hillcrest, Fr.
Oscar Sauber, Chaparral, Fr.
Ashton Spaulding, Roosevelt, Sr.
Anderson Sterba, Temecula Valley, So.
Jack Wasserman, Riverside Poly. Sr.
Kyle Yoda, Great Oak, Fr.
