The girls’ golf team started off its season in August this year. With an impressive 14-2 record in the regular season, the Lady Dons dominated on the road to the Western League title. With a strong team comprised of girls who can all shoot in the 40’s for a nine-hole round, the 2014 girl’s golf team is one of the best seen in the last few years, coming a few strokes shy of beating the school record.

The team attributes their success this year to strong team dynamics.  English teacher and girls’ golf coach Mr. Chris Grazier said, “Even though golf is an individual sport, the team seems to love one another.”

Junior, Alli Williams said, “I can be paired up with anyone on my team to play with during a match and be happy because we all get along so well.” Sophmore Kayleen Afsahi agreed saying, “It is always really uplifting to be around such positive teammates.” She also added that the team works together to improve each other’s techniques, “bouncing new ideas off of each other.”

In addition to working together on the course, the team convened off the course to create friendships that go beyond golf. The Lady Dons golfers hang out together, doing anything from training activities to team sleepovers. The team also has mental conditioning days to get in a competitive mindset.

Because the team has formed bonds, “We can motivate each other and achieve the best of our potential,” Williams said. Coach Grazier believes the “genuine camaraderie” on the team is a factor contributing to the strong season, as the team has “great unity and cohesion for one another.”

The team had several tournaments against the other very competitive girls’ golf teams, including La Jolla High School and Scripps Ranch High School. In mid-October, the team attended the Ayala High School Girls Fall Classic Varsity Golf Tournament at Los Serranos Golf and Country Club in Chino Hills, California, where the Lady Dons competed against 24 other high school golf teams.

Concerning the future, Coach Grazier said, “We have a really deep team that has a really good chance of winning.”

On October 23, the girls’ golf team competed and won the Western League title. In addition, sophomore Jackie Garcia, with a two –day total of 160, amassed first team in the City Conference Tournament, and her teammates, Williams and Freshman Madisen Miller, earned second team honors.

Along with the varsity team, the junior varsity team has also been gaining success, where Eliza Lozano took first place in a recent tournament in Oceanside. The team as a whole took second place.