Matadors are defeated 189-231 by Lynbrook High School in inaugural Santa Clara Athletic League game.
During the first game of the newly formed Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, the Matadors were defeated 189-231 by Lynbrook High School on Sept. 5 at Deep Cliff Golf Course. Freshman Amy Zhong shot the Matadors’ lowest round with a 41, sophomore Anika Singh scored 44 and junior Hershey Sriraman scored 47.
“I was a little bit nervous, but then it got a little bit better,” Zhong said. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought. I got a birdie on [the sixth hole]. My goal is to get better at golf and get more practice.”
[slickr-flickr type=”gallery” thumbnail_size=”small” thumbnail_scale=”60″ search=”sets” set=”72157635417182906″ items=”8″]Kicking off with senior co-captain Shruthi Perati shooting the league’s inaugural ball, the team experienced a rocky start with no players shooting par. However, the Matadors later got back on their feet with one par each from Perati, Singh and Sriraman, two pars from senior co-captain Natalie Ng, and one par and birdie from Zhou.
“It was a good start and we all got a chance to practice, and I think we all had fun,” Ng said. “Individually, all of our goals are just to get consistent. And as a team, it’d be nice to get to leagues, but if not, just to be pleased with our performance at the end of every match.”
Although they started the season with a loss, the Matadors hope to bounce back as they play the 10 remaining matches over the course of the season and get back into practice. According to assistant coach Priyanka Singh, returning golfers will work on strength and technical skill while new players focus on basic swing and consistency, especially with the record turnout of six freshmen on this year’s ten-member team.
“As of now, [the game] wasn’t too strong, but I think that as the season goes on and as they’re more familiar with it, it’ll be a lot easier for them,” Priyanka Singh said. “I think places where we want to shave off strokes might be where we hit the high 50s, and get them down to 40s — and if people are playing 40s, get them down to 30s. I think there’s good prospect.”
Scorecard:
[table class=”table_purple”]
| Hole (Par) | 1(4) | 2(3) | 3(3) | 4(3) | 5(3) | 6(4) | 7(3) | 8(3) | 9(4) | OUT(30) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shruthi Perati | 7 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 51 |
| Natalie Ng | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 48 |
| Amy Zhong | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 41 |
| Anika Singh | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 44 |
| Hershey Sriraman | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 47 |
| Madeline Park | 9 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 63 |
