W. GOLF: DESERT SUN BLAZES HOLE IN FC'S GOLF SCORES
On Wednesday, at Soboba Springs Golf Course (par 72), the desert sun pounded relentlessly upon the Fullerton College Women's golf team as the scores rose as quickly as the temperatures and the Hornets found themselves with the highest score in the tournament and placed seventh out of seven team in Orange Empire Conference competition with a combined score of 459 while the tournament winning team, The Gauchos of Saddleback College, roped in an impressive 307.
On Wednesday, at Soboba Springs Golf Course (par 72), the desert sun pounded relentlessly upon the Fullerton College Women's golf team as the scores rose as quickly as the temperatures and the Hornets found themselves with the highest score in the tournament and placed seventh out of seven team in Orange Empire Conference competition with a combined score of 459 while the tournament winning team, The Gauchos of Saddleback College, roped in an impressive 307.
Although first time golfer, Natalie Barker, scored a team-high 141, she appeared upbeat and positive, recognizing that competing in, and completing her first ever competitive round was an accomplishment in and of itself, far more important than the score.
Second year student-athlete, Sydney Gimpl, from Sonora High School, struggled to a 138 as she battled both herself and the course, having not competed in close to two years since the Covid-19 caused pandemic obliterated the 2020 golf season.
Although recent Fullerton High School graduate, Alyssa Vasquez, piped her drives down the middle of the fairway and landed several approach shots within close chipping range--the baked-out greens and cross-hatched fringe frustrated her progress, as her putter proved to be about as valuable as a dull knife attempting to carve through a frozen block of butter, with myriad three-putts casually cascading across the cusp of the cup instead of dropping to the bottom. To further confound her progress, her errant chip shots leapt over to the other side of the green with all the precision of a 16-pound sledge hammer. Her final score of 99, though respectable, failed to threaten the winning score of 73.
The brightest star in the Fullerton sky, Troy High School graduate and Fullerton College team captain Chelsey Gutierrez, shined with a competitive nine-over par, 81, with two birdies on the back nine which helped to offset back nine triple and double bogeys. Also, due to the pandemic, Ms. Gutierrez was not permitted to compete in her first year as a Fullerton College student.
Both Head Coach Naveen Kanal and former Hornet and Assistant Coach Geri DeVille expressed their admiration in the team's first match in almost two years, said Coach DeVille to the team after the match, "I am so proud of all of you competed to the best of your ability and your hard work will pay off in lower scores later in the season."
Coach Kanal also looks forward to both lower temperatures and lower scores as the season progresses.
Up Next: The Hornet's will play at Ironwoods Country Club in Palm Desert on Monday, 20 September at 9:30AM hosted by College of the Desert.