Girls’ Golf “Swings” the Odds in Their Favor Against Rosary High

Stephanie Hwang and Claire Liu

Freshman Joyce Huang finishes her swing at the first green, making sure to keep herself in the right mental state. “I would work on fixing my mindset,” Huang said. “I was frustrated on the first few holes, but I had to switch my mindset back. You’re affected by the last few shots when you’re frustrated, but you need to focus on the next few and shoot well.”

Girls’ golf (4-3) won against Rosary High with a total score of 192-288 in a home match at Rancho San Joaquin on Sept. 25. The next match is scheduled for Oct 7. against University High.

Some Bulldogs, like senior Emmie Ding, used this match to bounce back from a previous rough patch. Ding shot a 35, the lowest score and one below the par for the course, 36, according to Ding. Others, like freshman Joyce Huang who shot a 39 on the course, saw the match as an optimistic starting point for the rest of the season. Both Ding and Huang said they hope to improve their iron shots in future matches.

“I’ve been struggling a bit with my iron shots. In a couple previous matches, and yesterday, it was a little bit better. When I was doing my swing adjustment, I felt like I wasn’t consistent before, and right now, it’s like ‘oh, I can consistently hit the ball straight,’” Ding said. “That’s what I’m aiming to do consistently.”

Since adding nine new freshmen and one sophomore, the team has been working on growing one another to be more mentally and physically cohesive. Now, it seems their work has begun to pay off, as the Bulldogs scored better than their usual high 190 or low 200 this match, according to head girls’ golf coach and social studies teacher Wind Ralston.

“If you’re in the 190s you’re a good team. If you can get under 190 you’re a great team,” said Ralston. “But I don’t think we’re quite there yet.”

To prepare for the match, the team ran through a few practice swings together, getting them in an ideal mindset to swing consistently, according to Ding and Ralston. In the future, Huang said she wanted to work on preserving a stable mindset, as well as avoiding shanking the ball.

“My goal is to maintain a stable mindset and hopefully not shank the ball,” Huang said. “When [the ball shanks], your swing moves a different way, and the ball face goes straight to the right.”

The team plans to work on holding a consistent total score of 190 in their future matches, along with preparing for team and individual CIF, according to Ralston.

“We’ve got a lot of new players who are growing in their mental and physical game right now,” said Ralston. “It takes a lot of work and a lot of experience to be able to play great golf. I’m happy with good golf right now.”

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About the Contributors

Stephanie Hwang, Co-News Editor

Stephanie Hwang is the Co-News Editor for her second year on the Portola Pilot. This year, she hopes to juggle the delicate balance between APs and her Pilot duties. When she’s not impulsively signing up for 7 stories, you can find her pranking Marianne with silly stickers or trying to reach a new high score on Crossy Road (it’s 350 right now).

Claire Liu, Back Page Editor

Claire Liu is the Back Page Editor and a Business Manager for her second year on the Portola Pilot. This year, she will try her best not to double the given word count. If she’s not in a comatose state because of sleep deprivation, you can find her listening to dead jazz players, watching long-form improv sessions or crying because Sonia is somehow both of her bosses.