25 October 2012
TEE-OFF: The Poly girls’ golf team recovered nicely from the loss of several key seniors and made an impact in its new league.
by Griffin Ferre, Copy Editor
When one thinks of sports, one probably thinks of action-packed sports such as football and basketball that receive the majority of media attention in the sporting world. While these sports consistently draw huge crowds, athletes participating in other sports must compete in relative obscurity.
One such sport is girls’ golf, headed by Coach Ed Jones. These athletes must often compete in solitude out on a huge golf course with little support from fans. That means that these golfers participate not for glory, but because they truly love the sport. They spend many hours out on the driving range honing their craft just for the satisfaction of knowing that they are improving their skills and helping their team earn a victory.
In most cases, it is cliché to say that a high school sports team lost many players to graduation; however, in this instance it just may be appropriate. The three seniors who made up the core of the team last year all advanced to CIF. However, all is not lost as the Bears had new players successfully step into contributing roles on the team this year, leading Poly to a 7-3 record in league and a 8-5 record overall.
“It was a slow process because playing in matches competitively is different than just hitting balls on the range. The girls, however, remained positive and upbeat throughout the year,” Jones said.
Matches are scored by playing six girls, the top five of which count as scoring players. The lowest total wins. Several of Poly’s players recently competed in the Inland Valley League Finals at Oak Valley Golf Club. There, the Bears experienced their fair share of success. Holland Schourds (9) came in second with a score of 126 (only 15 points behind the leader), Zoe Zink (10) came in third with a score of 136 and Savannah Santoro (11) came in fifth with 141. Schourds and Zink earned berths in the CIF Individual tournament, and all three earned All-League honors.
“Overall, considering we had people who were brand new to the game, we did pretty well,” Jones said, “our plan this year was to not get discouraged and to improve on a weekly basis.”
While this season may be approaching its end, the golfing careers of many of these girls are just getting started. As they embark on their journeys through high school golf and possibly beyond, they are most likely keeping one thing in mind: “Just keep swinging.”