It was not exactly a walk in the park for the Bainbridge High School girls golf team, but they did manage a critical win against Bishop Blanchet at Wing Point Golf Course late last week. The girls managed to barely nab the win with a final score of 78-76.
The team remains undefeated at 4-0 for the season.
“We expect to have a great season,” said Spartan girls Head Coach Ian Havill. “We will have some stiff competition from Seattle Prep and Eastside Catholic.”
Top performers of the day were Julie Ischer with a score of 23, DD Madigan with 22, Taylor Tye at 17 and Mary Boynton with 16.
Under Havill, now in his fourth season as coach, the girls have a record of 25-1-1 over the past three years and have won the metro tournament two of the past three seasons.
“Our goals are to learn the game, out work our competition, be great teammates and most importantly represent our program and school with appropriate behavior on and off the course,” Havill said.
Havill lists the top returners this year as Claire Lunzer, Julie Ischer, Mary Boynton and DD Madigan, a BHS junior returning to the team who made it to the state tournament last season.
“She will likely lead our team in scoring,” Havill said of Madigan.
Discussing Thursday’s match at the completion of the first hole, Madigan remained cautiously optimistic.
“So far so good,” she said. “I’m just trying to hit the ball as straight as I can and set myself for the best shot.”
Havill says that the presence of experienced players like the teams’ top returners will most definitely benefit the younger team members.
“We have seven freshmen this year who will contribute some this year and will become very good players if they continue to work,” Havill said.
Despite the team’s impressive history, Havill does not allow past victories to distract his team.
“Even though we have an impressive record, our focus is on learning,” he said. “I want our girls to be able to have access to opportunities and relationships beyond high school. One of our mottos is ‘Are you better than you were yesterday?'”
