The girls’ golf team proved their worth at Elkins Ranch Golf Course in Fillmore on Thursday, Oct. 17, taking second place overall in round one of three in the Coastal Canyon League Finals.

Regardless of their league standings, the team will be competing in CIF playoffs, since their strong performances throughout the season have granted them the necessary qualifying scores. However, Oak Park still has hopes to finish the season ranked first place. Senior and team captain Bodia Borijin explained the close race for the league championship title between Oak Park and Simi Valley.

“We are going to go to CIF because we have enough qualifying scores, but for the league championship, I think it’s going to be really tight,” Borijin said. “[OPHS and SVHS both have] really solid teams and when we played each other, each of us won one and lost one, so we’re tied as of right now. It’s going to be very close.”

The team is currently 9-1 in league with an overall record of 12-4, according to MaxPreps, making Head Coach Don James very pleased with the team’s progress. 

“I think they have been wonderful. It’s a good group of ladies and they’ve played hard, especially after we lost our number one player [Ashlynn Reid] for the season,” James said. “They’ve done very well.”

According to freshman Simran Nadig, the season’s success is largely due in part to their strong dynamic as a team. 

“The season has been going really well and our team has been doing really good. We’ve really been pulling through, even without some key players,” Nadig said. “We have a really good dynamic and our team is really close; we all work really well together.” 

Regardless of the outcome of league finals, James is more than satisfied with the season and feels as though the team has been successful in proving their capabilities. 

“We have proved this year, in the head to head-matches, that if we’re not the strongest at the top, we’re the deepest and we’re the most balanced. In women’s golf, it’s not often what your number one and two players do for you, but what four, five and six play. We are clearly the two most balanced teams and that’s where we are,” James said. 

While winning is important, James has set other goals for the team as well.

“As long as they do their best and give me 100 percent and try hard, they’re successful,” James said. “That’s my goal; I want them to have fun.”