Spartan girls’ golf yet to be tested early in the season
Published 9:43 am Friday, September 18, 2009
The girls’ golf team has started the year off with a three-match winning streak, and it’s starting to look like the most difficult thing for Bainbridge will be to actually find opponents.
In the three matches against Seattle Prep, Franklin and Nathan Hale, the Spartans only faced a full squad of four or more once.
“We’ve got the most kids we’ve ever had and now I can’t get matches for them,” said coach Steve Nielsen.
Monday, the team travels to Seattle to face a combined team from Ingraham and Chief Sealth schools. The next day, Bainbridge is back home to face Lakeside. Nielsen said he had yet to receive the rosters for the two teams, so he was unsure how many of his girls would get to compete in matches.
Nielsen didn’t expect to see a full team from Ingraham and Chief Sealth, but Lakeside will be a wild card.
“Since they’re a private school, one year they might have nothing and the next year they might have 12 (players),” he said.
Luckily for the team, golfers can still improve even without an opponent.
Nielsen is still learning about his team this season. He’s looking at how his players build on momentum from good shots and how they recover from bad shots.
The Spartans’ resiliency was on display Tuesday in a match against Nathan Hale. Facing off against Caitilin Rice, who has participated in the state tournament three times, Bainbridge golfers Jasmine Shattuck and Julia Gross had some difficult moments, and some great ones. Shattuck began the day by taking a 3-over-par seven, but she didn’t let that get her down.
Only two holes later, Shattuck’s tee shot on the par-3 landed within eight feet of the hole. She calmly sank the putt to make birdie.
“I needed that,” she said on her way to the next hole.
Julia Gross scored the most points in Monday’s win over Franklin and joined Shattuck in the match against Rice and Nathan Hale’s Claire Hannon. Gross struggled with her putting at times, but she didn’t let that hold up the rest of her game. Gross found the fairway more often than not on her drives, and on the second hole she drove the ball only 30 yards short of the green.
Bainbridge has now scored 112, 114 and 114 points in its three matches against 70, 29 and 51 for the opponents.
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Up next
Bainbridge travels to West Seattle Golf Course to play Ingraham/Chief Sealth Monday at 3 p.m.
