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Scotts Valley High School
The Falcons girls golf team is off to a strong start with a 3-0 record thus far with wins over the other top teams in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League.
The Falcons have bested Harbor, San Lorenzo Valley and Santa Cruz in their quest to take home the SCCAL title.
“We have very good talent all around,” said tenth year Falcon coach Rich Hager. “All of our golfers are very experienced which makes coaching easy for me. They only need fine tuning as opposed to most teams I have coached where the girls are much more rough around the edges.”
Senior Natalie Ifland is in the number one spot for the Falcons, followed by senior Tessa Cados, freshman twins Jemina and Jelina Cheyian, junior Jilli Culver and Junior Heidi Riedel.
“We are a very close team,” Culver said. “Outside of golf we are all friends that hang out together.”
The Falcons are currently the only undefeated team in the SCCAL and show no signs of letting that record drop off.
Scotts Valley warded off Harbor 193-195 on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at DeLaveaga Golf Course and after a match against Aptos after press-time on Sept. 22, the Falcons play Soquel also at DeLaveaga.
San Lorenzo Valley High School
The Cougars are still looking for their first league win after a 0-2 start, but seem to find a way to have fun under Head Coach Shane Sutcliffe’s playful tutelage.
Junior Kendall O’Conner, a first year player with two months of golf experience, has quickly ascended to the Cougar No. 1 spot followed by Jordyn Duncan, Alex Mattoch, Hailey Nolan, Catrina Tellez, Akacia Woodward, Julie Ferry, and Hailey Williams.
“These girls are coming along really quickly,” said Sutcliffe. “Kendall had never played golf before this season and she is already our number one.”
The Cougar girls average an impressive 3.7 grade point average across the board with three players at or above the 4.0 GPA (Nolan, Tellez, and Ferry).
Sutcliffe said he recruits most of the girls on the team from the English classes he teaches at the high school.
“His attitude makes this game so much more fun,” said Duncan, a senior. “He is very good at keeping us motivated. I will definitely keep golf in my life because of this experience. Maybe not at a competitive level, but it will always be there.”
“It’s a great game and he just manages to makes it that much better,” Said O’Conner.
SLV plays Soquel on September 22 after press time before playing Harbor High on Sept. 27 at Boulder Creek Golf Course.
