Chris Satterlee first picked up golf clubs at the age of 10 in Gilroy, California.

Nine years later, he’s City College’s top men’s player, and he dreams of playing on the PGA Tour.

“He’s a great person, tremendous worker and very skilled,” said Chuck Melendez, men and women’s golf coach. “He’s our team leader and all the guys look up to him.”

In league, Satterlee is in third place, just seven strokes away from the leader. “I plan to take the league. Sneak up from behind,” he said.

Shooting an average of 74 on an 18-hole round, Satterlee believes he can do just that. “I just want to be on the top. I have the ability to,” he said.

Satterlee said it was his parents’ influence that got him swinging a club. “My dad played and he took me out. My mom would take me out too,” he said.

Melendez is glad to have Satterlee on the team. “We’ve needed some leadership and he’s provided that,” he said. “Chris has a lot of confidence.”

“We play tremendously hard courses,” said Melendez. “He holds his own on these great courses.”

In 2000, Satterlee moved to Santa Barbara and started his freshman year at Bishop Diego High School. He played four years of varsity golf for the Cardinals and took a top 10 spot in the high school state championship.

In high school, Satterlee had colleges from around the country offering him scholarships. He decided to attend and play for City College instead. “I wanted to take it easy. Just take my time and have fun with golf,” he said.

Satterlee plans to transfer to Arizona State and play for the Sun Devils.

The men’s golf team is in sixth place in the Western State Conference North Division. “Right now we’re in the back of the pack,” Melendez said. “We started out really well, but we haven’t played up to our capabilities.”

All 10 golfers are freshmen and the team is not as experienced as other teams. “I’m optimistic we can go to the playoffs,” Melendez said.

City College will host a 36-hole round on April 20. The top three teams from the tournament will go to the playoffs. Melendez thinks this is where City College will make their run and move on to postseason play.