If Monday’s Jamboree was a preview of things to come, by the end
of the season, the top of the Tri-County Athletic League may be a
little crowded.
Hollister – If Monday’s Jamboree was a preview of things to come, by the end of the season, the top of the Tri-County Athletic League may be a little crowded.
San Benito hosted the Jamboree meet at Ridgemark Golf and Country Club, and although they finished in fourth place out of 11 teams, the distance between themselves and second-place Santa Catalina was minimal.
Santa Catalina shot a 180 on the day, while third-place Salinas’ 182 was only slightly better than San Benito’s 184.
Without Mina Harigae competing, last year’s No. 2 junior golfer in the country, Stevenson still walked away with a 167, the top score on the day. With three players likely ranked in the nation, according to San Benito Coach Chris Branon, they’ll also likely be leading the TCAL this season as well.
But places second, third and fourth is where it was interesting on Monday, and will perhaps stay interesting as the season progresses, leading up to the year-end TCAL Finals at Salinas Country Club.
As one of the teams listed at the top, though, and just four strokes from where they want to be, San Benito will be gunning for second place this season.
“If you put it all together, I think we easily could have taken second (on Monday), and we’re going to be competing for second this year,” Branon said. “That’s what we’d like to get. With a very good year, we can get second.”
Branon added that he’d be pleased with third place in the TCAL as well, but feels the squad is strong enough that a fourth-place finish in the league would be a disappointment.
Considering just four strokes separated three teams at the Jamboree, Branon has had the Lady ‘Balers working on their short game this week, preparing to bring their score down just a little more for today’s season-opener against Pacific Grove at Ridgemark.
“They need to work. When you lose by two, lose by three, lose by four, it’s around the green,” Branon said. “The only difference between four strokes and two strokes could be a simple chip, putting, club selection, so we worked hard [Tuesday] on our short game. The emphasis was around the green.”
Branon keeps competition fresh by holding inner-squad qualifiers for each match. Competing on the “Famous Four,” which are holes 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Diablo Course, golfers compete to be among the six to play in the upcoming match.
Today, Marissa Gutierrez, Amanda Frey and Katie O’Brien will anchor the Lady ‘Balers against Pacific Grove, while the remaining three spots were decided on a qualifier late Wednesday at Ridgemark.
Gutierrez, who along with Frey, qualified for the Central Coast Section tournament last season, shot a 40 at the Jamboree, which was held on holes 2-10 of the Gabilan Course, a par 36.
“I expected to shoot a lower score,” she said. “Hopefully [today], I’ll change that around.
“This was the first tournament, and we didn’t do bad. But hopefully, we’ll shoot a little lower.”
Since the senior Gutierrez has been playing, the Lady ‘Balers have never finished behind Salinas at the Jamboree. Nevertheless, Gutierrez feels San Benito has a strong chance of being that second team heading to CCS.
Teammate O’Brien related Gutierrez’ sentiment.
“The usual private school teams came out on top, but we have a good chance of being at the top. We just need to stay focused throughout the season,” said the senior O’Brien, who shot a 47 on Monday. “We’re going to try to go to CCS as a team. We want to be No. 1 in our league. That’s our goal.”
Branon is asking his players to have better practice regiments and to polish their game. One way he feels the girls can reach this is by keeping detailed accounts of each hole on their scorecard during practice. As he said, “You tend to forget what happened on the golf course.”
San Benito will get their first taste of true TCAL competition today against Pacific Grove, where they’ll get a better look as to what needs to be improved upon. The match will commence at 3:30pm, and spectators are welcome.
The Breakers will be led by CIF state qualifier Haley Andreas. Andreas was Monday’s medalist with a 34, while her squad shot a 198, good enough for fifth place.
If second place in the TCAL is on San Benito’s radar, today’s match will be the first step to achieving that.
“I’d like to see three to four individuals (qualify for CCS),” Branon said, “but our number one goal is to see our team make it, and I think we can achieve that.”
