A month into the season, the Oak Park High School girls golf team is on par with and constantly raising expectations.
“The season’s going very good,” senior Madeleine Kim said. “We’re still undefeated in our league, so we’ve won every league match so far.”
Of course, competition is always a factor. When asked about who their toughest opponent is, Kim didn’t hesitate.
“Well, in our league, Simi Valley,” she said. “Then probably Camarillo, but we’ve played some nonwinning matches against Westlake and Oaks Christian.”
For those unfamiliar with golf, a great score is 70 or below. For the team’s matches, all players’ scores are compounded.
“Anything under 200 is pretty good for us,” Kim said.
Throughout the season so far, the team has consistently improved their win margins, with the largest being a 51 point difference in their match against Simi Valley on Sep. 18, where they won 194-245. There’s a lot of work that goes into this success, on both individual and team fronts.
“I think [results] depend on your personal commitment to golf, because at least personally, there was a point where I played golf competitively, outside personal tournaments, and so during that, summer was a huge golf season,” Kim said. “So I was practicing even more than the school year.”
Another player who put in the hours over the summer is junior Nina Xu, who competed in multiple tournaments and practiced all throughout. She views this season as her best so far, and enjoys the challenge associated with playing more skilled competitors.
“Of all the matches, I really liked playing against Moorpark,” Xu said. “Their number one was someone that I found that I could try to compete with directly, and it was really nice that I had direct competition.”
A month out, the team is looking forward to their more competitive tournaments later on in the season.
“I’m most excited for CIF State because last year I didn’t make it past that, but this year I’m hoping I can go further,” Xu said.
Although players are often alone on the course, there’s always support within the team.
“Everyone’s gotten a lot better, so I’m proud of them all,” Xu said. “But we’re just a really good community.”
