The UC High Girls Golf Team performed exceptionally well this season, ranking first in Eastern League, and placing seventeenth out of forty-eight schools in the CIF San Diego standings.

   With a record this year of 11-1, the team made great improvements compared to last year’s record of 4-4. None of the players got injured and everyone stayed in good health, allowing the athletes to perform optimally against competitive teams.

   The team thrived with the addition of new players, such as Freshman Lynn Pham. Pham plays typically at around even par and also shoots below even par often. “Par” is the number of strokes that the golfer is expected to make for each specific hole and “even par” is when the golfer maintains this score throughout the entire round. (oxforddictionaries.com). Pham is ranked as one of the top players in the Eastern League, according to the San Diego City Girls Golf website (sites.google.com/site/sandiegocitygirlsgolf/).

  Pham made the cut for the Southern California CIF Regionals. Out of the 100 individual golfers in San Diego, Pham fought her way into the top 12. Valuable players such as Pham helped the Girls Golf Team take home wins.

    The team is glad that their season ended on a positive note, as they were constantly striving to achieve more and set higher goals. “Winning League and having a teammate move on to CIF was great, because those were our two major goals for this season,” explained Junior Hope Denison.

   Team Captain Senior Shauna Wilder said, “I really enjoy the team because all of us are really close, which  makes the long matches a lot more fun. I also enjoy meeting new people from other teams and competing against them.”

   Like Wilder, Junior Alara Dorais explained her love for golf. She said that there is an excitement when she plays on new courses, and she likes meeting new athletes through competition, which makes the sport a great environment.

   Head Coach Gail Hall said, “I enjoy coaching golf because it is a sport [that players] can continue to play their entire lives. My hope is that as adults they will experience the joy of playing out on a course with friends, family, and even  co-workers.”

   Hall assigns drills she described as “repetitive, but beneficial to the team as a whole.” These drills include practicing chipping onto the green from off the green, hitting out of bunkers, and using logic to create mental skill sets to be able to read putts better. The team is encouraged to ask questions about rules, etiquette and how to strategize so that they play more efficiently, which drills as the aforementioned help teach.

   Many girls on the team appreciate Hall because of her strong encouragement to continually improve their performance and play to a higher standard. Denison said, “Coach Hall is a great coach who pushes me to be better. She gives us a lot of freedom which I really appreciate, and I love playing with her because she makes me laugh.”

   Wilder encourages UC High students to consider participating in golf next season: “I would tell everyone who is interested in golf to join the team. It’s a lot of fun and no experience is needed.”