Jordan Davies played it cool and shot par on her final three
holes Monday at the Salinas Golf and Country Club, finishing with a
qualifying score of 94.
Davies, who made the cut by just three strokes, will advance to
the Central Coast Section Girls Golf Championships next Tuesday at
Carmel’s Rancho Canada Golf Club. It will be her first trip to the
section meet.
SALINAS
Jordan Davies didn’t count her strokes.
“I tried not to,” the San Benito High junior said. “I didn’t want to get all nervous.”
Good plan.
Nerves and pressure can often come into play at the Tri-County Athletic League Championships. But when you don’t add up the strokes, the score becomes an unknown.
“I didn’t think I was gonna make it,” Davies said.
Instead, Davies played it cool and shot par on her final three holes Monday at the Salinas Golf and Country Club, finishing with a qualifying score of 94.
Davies, who made the cut by just three strokes, will advance to the Central Coast Section Girls Golf Championships next Tuesday at Carmel’s Rancho Canada Golf Club. It will be her first trip to the section meet.
“It wasn’t as good as I wanted, but I’m glad I pulled it together at the end,” said Davies, who improved by 12 strokes from last year’s TCAL final.
“It was one birdie and a lot of bogeys. Too many.”
The Lady Balers, meanwhile, improved by 22 strokes from last year and finished with a 406 Monday. Although is was a vast improvement from one year ago, San Benito fell short of the 384 qualifying mark at TCALs.
“They had to have a perfect day,” San Benito head coach Chris Branon said. “They had a very good day.”
Salinas (342), Santa Catalina (343) and Stevenson (354) each advanced to next week’s CCS tournament.
Pacific Grove (391), meanwhile, narrowly missed the cut by seven strokes.
“No one gave up. That’s key,” Branon added. “In golf, it’s real easy to throw in the towel and they didn’t.”
Of course, it’s difficult to give up when you don’t count those strokes.
While freshman Emiley Palmquist was second on the Lady Balers with a 102 Monday, senior Jenny Glosser finished her prep career with a 104.
“I didn’t count strokes either,” Glosser said. “Otherwise, I’d get too nervous.”
Missing the CCS cut by a mere seven strokes, though, Glosser said it was the par-5 holes where she experienced the most difficulty.
“Par 5’s were pretty tough today and I had a little too many three-putts,” said Glosser, who improved by six strokes from last year. “But overall, I was happy with my score.”
Senior Alexis Sanchez took nine strokes off her score from last year, while junior Nicole Rianda will have another chance next season after she carded a 111 on Monday.
“We saw growth,” Branon said. “But we get the next nine months to prepare … and qualify for CCS.”
The Lady Balers will be without the services of seniors Glosser, Sanchez, Katie Moeller and Yumi Kimura next season, the latter of whom recorded a 109 on Monday.
“I was just having problems chipping and putting, so that added up a lot,” Kimura said. “But I think the team did pretty good.
“I think the seniors will go and support (Davies).”
Davies will have just a week to prepare for the CCS championships, but she was well aware on Monday of what she needs to work on.
“Definitely putting,” Davies said, without missing a beat.
