Lady Mustangs cut short by RLS in final meet at Gilroy GC before
Oct. 22 league championship
GILROY – As the Lady Mustang linkers awaited the final tally for Tuesday’s last dual meet before the league championships against Robert Louis Stevenson, they had looks of frustration.
“On the driving range, my shots were going to the right, but I fixed that. But the last few holes it was going right so I got frustrated,” said sophomore Kristen Campos, who shot a team-best 48. “My swing wasn’t working. It’s not the course.”
Even though a 207 team score was right around their average – but one short of finishing up with a win before the Oct. 22 league finals – the blossoming golfers now demand the best out of themselves. Their competitive spirit won’t allow anything else.
“It’s nice. They’ve been playing two, three, four years and their games have improved where they can compete with other teams. The frustrations and sad faces are because they know they can play better,” head coach Eric Kuwada said. “They expect more from their game.”
After a few years of taking their lumps as a team, the Lady Mustangs are in the thick of a battle for second and third in league with frontrunner Santa Catalina almost assured the title and an automatic CCS bid.
“It’s growth,” Kuwada said. “It’s fun to be able to watch these girls’ games grow. It’s much more rewarding when your part of teaching them the game.”
The Lady Mustangs also have a shot at getting an at-large team bid – which would be the first time in school history. The only Gilroy individual qualifier was Sarah Rutman three years ago.
“I really want to make it to CCS,” said Campos, who medaled in last week’s home match against Monte Vista Christian with a 42. “Last year, I didn’t qualify so my goal this year is to qualify.”
The standard nine-hole dual meet format is upped to 18 holes in one day at the league finals. For an individual to qualify for CCS, they must shoot a 100 round or lower.
“It’s exciting because every other year we’ve never done this well. We’ve actually been able to win some matches,” junior Amy Kishimura said. “I’m kinda borderline. I’m a little over 50 or right around 50. I really have no idea how it’s going to turn out.”
As it turned out on Tuesday, Kishimura finished with a round of 54; Carissa Filice shot a 52; Andrea Hugo scored a 53; Brittney Weber shot a 58; and sophomore Carla Navarro scored a 61.
“I’m not very happy at all. It was quite frustrating. I’ve done better in qualifying for our team spots. I’m doing good at the wrong time,” Kishimura said. ” (I have to focus on) just being more consistent and not letting one bad shot get me frustrated, especially if I start bad.”
Their latest team loss does not help the Lady Mustangs in the league standings – but Kuwada said there is a tight race between Gilroy, Monte Vista Christian, Hollister and RLS for second and third place. A point system is used to determine the winners with the league finals remaining.
“Now they see all the stakes,” Kuwada said. “The girls understand that making a few mistakes or a bad choice in strategizing the course can cost them. They are understanding the game more.”
The Lady Mustangs came close to qualifying for CCS last season as Hugo was short by only one stroke and Filice missed by five strokes. Campos shot a 111 and Kishimura shot a 125 last year.
“If we can get four girls to shoot less than 400, we have a good chance to go as an at-large team to CCS,” Kuwada said. “Now the learning curve is dealing with funny bounces and bad shots and what you do to recover from them. We’re going to work on practice, course strategy, (and) playing 18 holes to get used that.”
