Delta golf shows improvement

BY JOE DEMASI Staff Writer

Delta’s men’s golf team has started to take off.

On April 12 in Oakdale, the Mustangs placed fourth out of eighth, their best placement of the season, led by Alberto Garibaldi who scored 77, and Liam Tacla who scored 80.

They have big conference matches against Sierra and Monterey College next week. The men and women play in different seasons with men playing in the spring and women playing in the fall.

Coach Tony Troncale is a “PGA Golf Professional”, which takes years of practice and it means golfers at Delta can learn from a real professional in the sport, who is still active.

“Occasionally I compete in tournaments,” Troncale said. “But coaching keeps me busy.”

Both men’s and women’s teams have had success advancing to Northern California Regionals and state championships.

According to the San Joaquin Delta College athletics website, there are nine men on the golf team and they are all freshmen and sophomores.

Former Delta College student Julisa Martinez played for the women’s golf team. She is in her last year studying Economics at the University of Montana and plans to attend law school after she graduates in Fall 2023.

“I learned a lot playing golf in Stockton and I was encouraged by my family to play because my goal is to go to law school and become a lawyer and golf gives me a good outlet to talk with people from work while playing and to enjoy it in my free time,” said Martinez. Golf opens doors for students. “It gives them a lot of opportunities for different careers, especially women who are able to play golf because it opens up a lot of opportunities to talk business on the course or during tournaments,” said Troncale. “Golf is an extremely difficult sport so it teaches patience and good life lessons.”

According to the PowerPoint presented on the July 16, 2022 board meeting, some of the defects on the fields include raised track areas making it a tripping hazard. Other damages for other fields include worn out carpet on the baseball/softball field and lettering on the end zones of the football field being 2” shorter, which are both tripping hazards

Delta’s fields are now in the process of being fixed, it’s just a matter of time.

Tony Espinoza, Delta Athletics Director, said the timeline will be finalized once he gets more details.

“We are currently working with facilities and the bridging architect to finalize the project before it goes out to bid,” he said. “Once they identify a contractor, we will finalize a timeline.”

The PowerPoint presentation on March 2 stated that Siegfried is the Bridging Architect firm that’s working with the district for the request for a qualification proposal.

According to the PowerPoint presented at the Sept. 6, 2022 board meeting, the estimated cost for the fields and irrigation is $12,059,643.

As of April 18, there are no recent estimates yet of the cost.

“There is no clear cost estimate for the fields yet because there’s no agreement yet. “Once finalized, I’m assuming the details will be discussed at an upcoming board meeting,” explained Espinoza when asked about a rough cost estimate of the field repairs.

Espinoza said that this specific meeting about the field costs will take place depending “...on when the project is finalized.”

This could mean that Delta’s athletic teams can go back to playing home games in their true home field in the next couple of years.