Girls’ Golf: Unfavorable weather conditions don’t dampen high spirits

After a disheartening series of losses, one tie and a solitary win, the girls’ golf team pitched in together for an victory against Lincoln High on Sept. 24 at the San Jose Municipal Golf Course.

The team finished with 206, beating Lincoln by a 49-stroke margin.

Following post-match procedures, the team compiled its top four scores, out of the six players who played, to determine the final team score.

“We tried our best and succeeded,” No. 4 player freshman Halle Champion said. “We were all just pumped and ready for this [match].”

The course proved to be fairly straightforward with its wide fairways and majority of par fours. Unlike most courses, there was not a scattered abundance of trees to make play more difficult.

“The course was not that bad,” Champion said, “but there were some obstacles that I didn’t like, [including] sand bunkers.”

The girls, however, agreed that the grass was scarce and badly tended to in areas throughout the course, thus making many shots more challenging.

In the preceding game, at home course Coyote Creek on Sept. 21, the team had also scored a 206, placing second out of a three-way match. Saratoga lost to Los Gatos by 10, but beat Live Oak High by four. The outcome of this match secured the team’s first win.

Three-way and four-way matches are not rare and significantly shorten the season, since teams can fill their quota of playing each school at least twice without scheduling additional matches. While there are some disadvantages to this grouping, the Saratoga team considers these matches to be just as stimulating.

“It was fun to play against two teams at once,” freshman Sachi Verma said. “It made it more competitive. The teams were really friendly with each other, so it was pretty cool.”

As enjoyable as the game at Coyote Creek on Sept. 21 turned out, it offered difficulties because of harsh weather conditions.

“It was really cold and windy,” said Verma, “and the wind affected the way the ball went.”

But ultimately, the game was worth the struggle.

“It was nice to see how Saratoga won [its first] golf game,” Verma said. “I was so excited.”

The team looks forward to a busy schedule next week with two matches against Sobrato High on Oct. 12 and Oct. 13 and one game versus Lincoln High on Oct. 14. The girls hope for more wins but appreciate their success so far.

“Everyone has improved dramatically,” Champion said, “and [it has] really affected the team as we play.”