Baler girls golf kicks off Sept. 10
Robert Louis Stevenson still has four-time California Women’s
Amateur Champion and qualifier for this year’s U.S. Open Mina
Harigae on its team but that doesn’t mean the San Benito High girls
golf team doesn’t have a shot at winning a league title this
year.
Baler girls golf kicks off Sept. 10
Robert Louis Stevenson still has four-time California Women’s Amateur Champion and qualifier for this year’s U.S. Open Mina Harigae on its team but that doesn’t mean the San Benito High girls golf team doesn’t have a shot at winning a league title this year.
“Mina is good but one player doesn’t make a team. Our ultimate goal this year would be to qualify as a team for CCS (Central Coast Section tournament) and finish in second or even first in league,” said third-year head coach Chris Branon, who is also the head professional at Ridgemark County Club, the Balers home course.
A year ago the Balers finished third in league behind champion Santa Catalina and RLS. This year with four returning seniors that could all change.
“I’m very pleased to have a group of experienced players coming back,” Branon said. “We also have four sophomores and six freshmen that are battling it out for the finals spots on the six-player roster.”
The one player that doesn’t need to worry about her spot being overtaken is Baler senior Marissa Gutierrez. With scores that routinely hover in the low 30s for nine holes Gutierrez is a virtual lock for the No. 1 spot on the team – a title she has held all four of her high school seasons.
“She’ll be the one who will go head-to-head with Mina,” Branon said. “There is also a good chance she could earn a scholarship to play in college.”
Branon went on to say he is most impressed with her “guts and competitive drive” that she exudes on the golf course.
“She has so much raw talent,” he said. “She really hasn’t even tapped into how good she could be.”
Filling the No. 2 spot on the Baler roster this season is Katie O’Brien, who, along with Gutierrez is a co-captain of the team.
“She can hit the ball. She can putt the ball,” Branon said. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if she keeps playing the game after high school. She is a three-sport athlete though, which makes it tough in this sport.”
In addition to golf, O’Brien has played basketball, softball and competed on the track team during her high school years.
This year Branon is expecting her to routinely shoot in the high 30s to low 40s.
Although the No. 3 through No. 6 positions on the roster are still up for grabs, it appears in the early going that Amanda Frey will get the nod to compete in the No. 3 slot on the team – which is pretty impressive considering her recent spat of injuries. During her freshman and sophomore seasons she struggled on the links with ongoing back problems and last season she tore a tendon in her thumb, which caused her to miss six weeks of competition. Yet despite the setbacks, she showed enough tenacity and athletic ability to qualify for CCS as an individual last season with minimal practice time.
“She is very determined and a gritty player. She constantly grinds it out out there,” Branon said.
Another senior that is expected to land a spot somewhere in the six-player lineup is Jordan Archer. A mid- to low-40s shooter, Archer plays a vital role on the team that goes far beyond her scoring ability on the links.
“She is the ASB (Associated Student Body) president. She has a 4.0 GPA. She keeps everyone on the same page and she works hard on her game,” said Branon, who started giving her golf lessons when she was just 12 years old. “We have a lot of highs and lows on the team but she is always dead center (a stable force on the team).”
While Branon is expecting a lot from his four seniors, he is quick to point out that after them, the rest of the team’s roster is still up for grabs.
“It’s all wide open,” he said. “The top two spots are locked in but that’s about it. If I can find mid 40s to mid 50s shooters at the 4, 5 and 6 spots, I’ll be happy. The goal is to make CCS as a team.”
This year that goal will be easier to attain since the Section front offices recently decided to designate the Tri County Athletic League as a higher level league, meaning that more teams will be able to represent the league in the CCS championship tournament.
“Just look at the courses that we play on in this league – Spyglass, Old Del Monte, Pasadera Country Club… These courses are phenomenal,” Branon said. “Ridgemark is a nice, fun course too, and we get a lot of support from the members there for which I am truly thankful.”
According to Branon, the ladies and men’s clubs raised roughly $2,600 this year for the Baler girls’ golf team.
The girls’ golf season officially gets under way Sept. 10 at Ridgemark when the Balers host the TCAL Jamboree tournament.
