Girls’ golf: Team finishes fourth in tough league

Along with the end of CCS rolled the eventual pit stop of a successful golf season. However, although the season stopped, the girls are by no means winding down. When they are not reflecting on the season as a whole, they are looking forward to next fall, when the seniors will depart to college, their places filled with rookies from this year.

“I thought I’d be exhausted by the end of the season,” said freshman Abby Wolf, “but I already miss going to practice.”

Coach Casey Hall, however, thinks a small break from golf is best for the girls, who have trained daily since August.

“[The season] has been pretty demanding, especially since the switch to the Mt. Hamilton divistion resulted in more matches,” said Hall. “The girls have worked hard. And I can’t say I wouldn’t enjoy a break from our usual, hectic golf schedule.”

No. 1 junior Uttara Sivaram, who qualified for the Nov. 2 CCS tournament, drove down to Carmel to play 18 holes in the narrow Rancho Cañada course. Sivaram played through the thick rough and fast greens characteristic of challenging courses.While she didn’t place as highly as she would have hoped, the well-aerated greens and pleasant weather contributed to a good end to Sivaram’s competitive season.

For some, the culmination of the season marks a more permanent end. Seniors Natasha Aleksic, Kayla Epsman and Sharon Kikinis will be leaving for college, leaving a hole in the team competitively and emotionally.

“I’m going to miss everybody on the team so much,” said former No. 2 player Aleksic. “But it’s so amazing to see how far the team has come–from a small little six-player group to a full-fledged 11-player team. Wow.”

The progress the young team has made since its creation last fall is impressive, and the girls can only improve with the valuable experience this past season has given them.

Finishing fourth out of 11 schools in their division has established Saratoga as a competitive school in the league, only below Los Gatos, Lynbrook and Leland.

If the Falcons continue to improve at the same, steady rate, they may find themselves in the top tier of their division. Until then, however, the girls will train hard in order to make up for the loss of their seniors and ensure a similarly, if not more successful season in the fall.