Golfers Have Driving Ambition

Delaney Pietsch, Photojournalist

Olivia Yerkes focuses on the green as she steps up to putt the ball.

Golf is an extremely difficult sport to perfect with the many different challenges that can occur throughout the game. The Lady Mustang’s do a phenomenal job at preparing themselves with tons of practice so they can go onto the course and take home that win.

Our Yorba Linda varsity golf team consists of nine girls battling their way through heat waves and tough courses. They practice four nights a week, perfecting their swings and aim. Not only do they show up to the course every week during their season to putt and hit their many clubs on the range, they also train on their own time. During the off-season, they are required to keep up with these habits and complete a few matches each month.

The varsity team has won every match but two so far with coach Riggs keeping them in line. There is a wide range of girls on the team this year, from seniors to one freshman. Each teammate works together and cheers one another on as the matches progress and the competition gets tougher.

These athletes take their sport very seriously and all hope to do their best in each and every game. Golf is not like many other athletic games. Each member plays against themselves, hoping to get a better score than their previous. They have to focus on every hit and understand the course they are playing. Every player has to take account of the slope of the greens and the role of the ball. The force they hit the ball with can not be too hard, for the ball could roll pass their target. The way each player perfects this depends on how much practice they put into the game.

Olivia Yerkes (9), the freshman on the team, “prepares for [her] matches by playing and practicing every day out of the week”. While she is on the course, she focuses on the “three areas of golf which include putting, pitching, and range”. Not only does she train during the week, she also spends “an hour and a half to three hours on the weekends” preparing herself for the next week’s match.

While each player can definitely get nervous before their match, they just calm down and focus on one swing at a time. They look at how they are doing while practicing before the match so they can “adjust their form in order to hit a solid shot” Isabella Kenney (11).

All sports take a great deal of work and practice. Golf is a mental game that is not always in control of the player’s hands. It takes focus and confidence to perfect the swing and have fun during the game. This is a great game to play, and our Lady Mustangs have done an exceptional job so far. Keep up the good work Mustangs!