East High Golf - Tuesday, August 29, 2023

The East High girls golf team kicked off the 2023 season on Tuesday, August 29, at Sierra Hills Golf Course.  The first tournament featured all of the GWAL schools, and it always sneaks up on us quickly. But this year, it was exceptionally abrupt.  In case you didn't notice, the previous week's weather was fit for neither man nor beast, forcing our girls to practice inside all week.  And while we got lots of good reps hitting wiffle balls into the curtain on the stage of the East Aud, it's not a completely acceptable substitute for being on the course.  Especially when some of your girls have never even BEEN on a golf course.

We have eight girls on the squad this year, and seven of them competed at Sierra Hills.  We had three varsity girls play 18 holes, and four JV girls play nine.  Carding the low score for the varsity was sophomore Faith Mantzke, shooting a 95 to finish 19th.  Faith has literally only played golf for about three months of her life, but has an incredibly fluid swing and the kind of carefree mindset that would benefit any golfer.  After she shakes off the rust from the beginning of the season, I think she's going to shoot some good scores this season.

In her very first high school tournament, freshman Olivia Sanchez placed 21st, shooting a score of 105.  I have high hopes for Olivia as well, as she also possesses the kind of positive attitude that all golfers would envy.  She is going to learn a lot this year, but the future looks very bright for her.

And junior Mackenzie Wright rounded out the varsity results for East, placing 23rd with a score of 108.  After a solid practice session the weekend prior, Mackenzie arrived at Sierra Hills with a dreaded case of the, "I have no idea where my shots are going to go", which is never any fun.  Every golfer has moments like that, and I was proud of her for battling through.  (Editor's note: on Thursday at practice, she was hitting the ball great again, so she's good to go now).

The individual winner of Tuesday's tournament was Ximena Sarinana, a freshman(!) from Kapaun, who shot a two-under 56.  Oh, and a freshman from Southeast (Alina Lam) placed second.  Amazing.  Click here for complete varsity results.

Our JV squad featured: a freshman (Allison Flinn) who has been on the course before, but was, of course, competing for the first time in a high school event; and three girls (Haylie Bustos, Brooklyn Brandon, and Heidi Bustos) who had never played a round of golf in their life.  Despite all the reassurances I could muster, they were one great big bundle of nerves.  But, a bundle of nerves that had some awesome moments.  Throughout the round the girls experienced some positive moments and, as you can imagine, numerous learning experiences.  Allison led the JV squad with a 61, which placed her 18th.  Brooklyn finished 24th with a score of 74.  Heidi placed 29th with an 80 (although I suspect it was lower than that based on some of the shots I saw her hit).  And Haylie shot an 87, good for 30th place.  I was proud of all the girls and am excited to continue to watch them improve throughout the season.  For complete JV results, click here.

The girls golf team will next be in action on Thursday, September 7, as we host the first-ever MacDonald Cup Scramble, which will be the only team/partner event on our schedule.  If you've ever wondered what it might be like to watch high school golf, this would be a great opportunity to come check it out.

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