San Lorenzo Valley High graduates James Dahlen and Keenan Buntz were always smiling on the golf course, whether it was during practice or a league match.
Two best friends just having a blast as Cougar teammates for one last time. If Dahlen was having a bad day on the course, Buntz was there to pick him up and vice versa.
That type of attitude helped create what is now a winning culture at SLV, as both golfers earned All-Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League First Team honors for a second consecutive year.
Dahlen and Buntz led the Cougars to a perfect 10-0 season in league play in 2025, winning back-to-back league championships for the first time in the school’s history. Dahlen also fought his way back to capture the league’s individual title at Pasatiempo Golf Course on April 29.
“Not a lot of people see SLV as a strong powerhouse for just sports in general. And it was cool to do that in golf,” Dahlen said.
Buntz and Dahlen—who haven’t lost a home match at Boulder Creek Golf and Country Club in the past two seasons—were 1A and 1B throughout the 2025 campaign, taking turns as the Cougars’ best golfer.
“At the beginning of this year, I beat him a couple of times, so it was looking like I was going to take his spot,” Buntz said. “That’s what I wanted to do, that was my goal. But he kind of came back, that’s always what he does. When I think I have it, he comes back.”
Their success on the golf course didn’t go unnoticed. Dahlen and Buntz recruited fellow classmates to join the boys’ golf program, helping it grow into what it is today.
And having such a huge influence, and impact, like they had at SLV is why the Press Banner named Dahlen and Buntz as its co-Male Athletes of the Year for the 2024-25 school year.
“It’s great to be able to really win something,” Buntz said. “I have something to leave high school with. James has been one of my best friends for four or five years. So, to be able to share something with him is great.”
Apart from golf, Buntz played his fourth year on the boys’ soccer team and was named the SCCAL’s Goalkeeper of the Year—a position he didn’t play until his eighth-grade year.
“I did some training, and I just kind of fell in love with it,” Buntz said. “I’ve been playing with the same four defensive lineman with my club team [Valley United] and for high school.”
Buntz had an average of eight saves per game for SLV, which finished with a 1-7-2 record in SCCAL play and a 3-9-4 overall record this past season.
He said they tried their best to stay competitive, but the young Cougars squad was simply overpowered by the larger teams.
“The way the school is so small, it just kind of gets to a point,” Buntz said.
SLV boys’ soccer head coach Jesse Carrington said Buntz was a natural leader because he’s so talented in front of the net.
“[Buntz] would also make his voice heard, and he was never disparaging or negative towards his fellow teammates, which is something that I preach as a coach,” Carrington said.
During that time, Buntz spent countless hours on the golf course to hone his skills for the 2025 spring season. He traveled every weekend in the summer to Monterey, San Jose, Stockton, Sacramento and even Sonoma to compete in various junior tournaments.
“It means a lot,” said Buntz about his athlete of the year award. “I had a lot of mental struggle junior and sophomore years within golf. Shortcomings at tournaments where I was three strokes up, going into the last hole and fell apart. I could never bring home a real medal. So I guess this kind of symbolizes that.”
Dahlen, who was practically raised at Boulder Creek Golf and Country Club, played varsity football for the first time ever in 2024. He was also one of three Cougars that officially competed on the Santa Cruz Mountains Surf Team out of the Santa Cruz Scholastic Surf League for the first time in the school’s history.
“We weren’t that great, but we did good and we had a lot of fun,” said Dahlen about the surf season. “We started that the last couple of years, and we finally joined the league this year. We went to the competitions and it was a super sick experience.”
But on the golf course, Dahlen was a different animal. In 2024, he was recognized as the SCCAL’s Most Valuable Player, helping lead SLV to its first league title in the program’s history.
“James is so smooth, the short game is excellent,” said SLV head coach Luke Dahlen. “He gets up and down from anywhere, that’s really where his bread and butter is.”
“He might miss a driver, an iron shot but he’ll put it four feet, and anything within five or six feet,” Luke Dahlen added. “He’s always draining, and that’s why I hate playing against him.”
At times, Luke will attempt to play head games with his son, yet James has developed a knack to block out distractions from his dad, or other opponents, during a match.
And whether it was tuning out the opposition or lifting each other up, Dahlen said he was glad to have been able to leave an everlasting influence on just one program.
“It’s a cool accomplishment, and I’m really stoked that we’re able to recognize the golf team and golf program,” Dahlen said. “I know there were some really good baseball players from Scotts Valley, and some really good basketball players from Aptos. I just wanna recognize all the other good athletes out there, too.”
