GHS girls golf team takes the game in stride
Head coach Trudi Souza is teaching her Gilroy High girls golf team a lesson or two this season.
Along technical lines, accuracy around the greens results in a sweet reward – aside from taking strokes off the score.
“If any of my girls chip in, they get a candy bar,” Souza said as she watched senior Sophia Blocher-Sullivan chip from about 25 yards from the pin on hole five Wednesday at Eagle Ridge in a league match against Pacific Grove.
Though Blocher-Sullivan didn’t sink the shot, a nice roll left her 10 feet from the stick.
“Believe it or not, I have given away a lot of candy bars in practice,” Souza said.
Another morsel Souza is handing down to her players is the notion of one shot at a time. The similarities connecting what can be learned on the links are noticeable when drawing comparisons to real-life
lessons.
“The parallel between golf and life is that one or two bad shots, or one or two bad holes, do not make a bad match,” said Souza, who is in her second year at GHS.
“Golf and life are both up and down. And the trick is to enjoy the experience and take in every shot and every challenge.”
An eighth-place finish at the Tri-County Athletic League jamboree 11 days ago, as well as a narrow defeat to Notre Dame (307-323) on Monday, have proven the five Mustangs are grasping the concepts and taking each round and shot with the care necessary to continue down the right course.
“The expectations are for them to continue to grow their games, increase their confidence in themselves and just enjoy the experience of playing golf on some of the best golf courses in Northern California,” Souza said.
“The only hurdle that stands in any golfers’ way is themself. We make golf harder than it has to be,” Souza continued. “If I can get the team to take each shot one at a time and see each shot as a new challenge, then we will see their scores go down and their ability and confidence go up.”
The Mustangs have three returning players from last season’s group, including seniors Megan Donahoe, who clinched a berth to the Central Coast Section playoffs in 2009, and Blocher-Sullivan.
“I know what I am capable of now,” said Donahoe, who fired a team-low 52 on the Par 36 front nine Wednesday.
Donahoe has embraced her leadership role and said she doesn’t mind dishing out a tip or two.
“I like helping here and there,” she said. “I can help figure out what to do, give advice about what club to use. I’m not uptight about it. We are all out here to have fun.”
Though they may be as quiet as church mice on the course, a recent team pizza party demonstrated otherwise.
“They were off on their own just chatting away,” Souza said. “They all get along really well.”
Sophomore Melissa Peterson is the other
veteran.
“Melissa has improved so much,” Souza said. “It’s amazing.”
Peterson, who didn’t own her own clubs last season but now swings some flashy new clubs, shot a 66 on Wednesday as the Mustangs dropped another close match 291 to 321.
Sophomore Aundrea Flores and freshman Cierra Montoya-Valdez are newcomers.
“Aundrea has been driving the ball well,” Souza said of her No. 4 player. “Cierra is at the point where she is learning very quickly,” Souza added. “I think by the season’s end we will already see her potential. She’s not really scared of anything.”
Flores and Montoya-Valdez carded a 74 and 69, respectively, against Pacific Grove. Blocher-Sullivan’s 60 was the Mustangs’ second lowest number on the day.
“Megan is a natural leader,” Souza said. “And she is doing a great job showing the new members of the team how things work. Sophia and Melissa are as well.”
