Irvington’s girl’s golf team ended their season by re-entering the North Coast Section (NCS) golf championship, something they didn’t manage to accomplish last year.
This improvement can be attributed to the work the team put in throughout the off-season and the camaraderie they developed through the work they put in. Due to their hard work, the team also had high expectations heading into the season. They hoped to improve on the previous years success, and then build upon it to reach new heights never seen before.
The season proved to be especially successful for the team. They qualified for the NCS championship after tying with a 9-win, 1-loss record against Mission San Jose in the league championship. They then went on to win 9th place out of 21 teams in the NCS championship.
The team enjoyed every step of the journey, including the wins and losses. The losses would bring the team together, while the wins would be an affirmation of the hard work. As the season went on, the team began to appreciate each other more and understand the game of golf better as well. Overall, everyone began to trust the process and have a great time.
“This season was amazing,” Coach Larry Harrington said. “Truly a team effort.” Ishita Kapoor (10) a player on this team reciprocated this message and said “I think this year, we’re on a much better team.” Last year, the team lost to Mission in the League Championship, but this year they managed to pull through and tie.
This enjoyment was felt throughout the team. This year the team felt a special sense of connectedness amongst one another, sharing one another’s successes as well as failures. The team really emphasized sticking together through the highs and lows, embracing each other not only as teammates but as a group of friends. This sort of chemistry is only found amongst the best teams.
The team also saw an influx of first-time golfers. “This year, we got a lot of freshmen coming in and they are improving a lot,” said Kapoor.
There were a total of 5 freshmen that joined the team this year, including Elsa Hsieh, Zainab Mehdi, Likhita Challa, Sonia Puri, and Cynthia Yu.
This large number of incoming golfers is a relief for the team as 3 seniors prepare to leave for college next year. “The seniors we have right now make up half of the playing team,” said team captain Grace Phang (12). “New freshmen are stepping in to play officially”
The new freshmen expect to not miss a beat as they step in for the high-quality seniors. Despite not playing for the top level in previous years, they have been putting in the work needed to improve in upcoming seasons.
They want to continue the success that the older players have been enjoying in previous years and build upon success to help the team reach the League Championship once again.
Both Coach Larry and team members added that Freshman Elsa Hsieh and Zoe Anderson (12) excelled this season scoring an even par 36 in league finals. This means that Hsieh hit below or the same number of strokes a good golfer is expected to need to score on each hole.
“They come to every practice, they try really hard,” says Kapoor confirming the hope in the newcomers. “I think they improved a lot this year. And I think next year, they’ll be ready to play with the seniors.”
As the golf season comes to an end, the incoming freshmen are up to the challenge of reaching the same successes the team before them attained.
In past years, the team has sometimes had problems with a lack of players, but have succeeded in their division regardless.
Despite these struggles, the new freshmen seem determined to ensure they live up to what they were brought in to achieve.
In future years, the team hopes to have these freshmen excel, as well as create a winning culture in Irvington girls’ golf.
They remain enthusiastic for the nextyear and hopeful for many wins to come.
