High-school golf is an interesting sport. Nothing can be more relaxing than heading out to the course to unwind after a long school day with a group of friends, and the camaraderie can be infectious as smiles and high-fives abound.
But unlike the other prep sports offered in the spring, teams’ skill levels run the absolute gamut in 4A Kingco, where outcomes are often decided well before teams step onto the first tee.
There are squads like Redmond, the perennial state-tournament threat that has won 73 consecutive league matches dating back to 2003, and then there are the Bothell Cougars, brought together for the love of the game and the chance to compete at the sport they love.
“We haven’t won anything yet,” joked longtime educator Judy Miller, in her second year as the Cougars’ golf coach. “But it’s a really good group of girls with lots of potential. We have a lot of good golfers, so I’m thinking we’ll finish up the season with more of a winning record.”
LEADERS IN THE CLUBHOUSE
The Cougars this year are led by a solid top four, captained by seniors Nikki Fugiel and Rachel Rohrbaugh. “They’re pretty much our team leaders,” Miller said. “Sydney (Howard) is our No. 2 player, she’s a junior and coming on strong.”
Another junior showing great promise is Remy Ramos, who should be one of the prime scoring threats next season.
Working with a very diverse group of girls skill-wise, Miller has chosen to focus on the short game in an effort to shave strokes off her team’s scores.
“Right now, we’re trying to work on putting,” she explained. “We have a pre-match routine, with the goal of (two-putting) each hole. The girls are marking how many putts they take, trying to eliminate taking four putts.”
Although Bothell’s home facility, Wayne Golf Course along Bothell Way and the Sammamish Slough, may not be up to the standards of some of the Cougars’ league opponents’ home courses like Redmond (Golf Club at Redmond Ridge), Eastlake (Sahalee Country Club) and Skyline (Plateau Club), Miller believes that a solid short game is the key to success on the more difficult golf courses they face during the season.
“It’s real easy to drive and get close,” she said. “Chipping, pitching and putting, that’s our focus.”
Miller also places a high emphasis on golf etiquette, lessons that her girls will be able to take with them onto the course far beyond their years at Bothell.
“They know now not to keep score on the green, but to hustle off to the next hole, and as they’re teeing off, do their scoring,” Miller said. “Their pace is better, and they’re walking fast to the ball.”
STEADY IMPROVEMENT
Already this season Miller noted a vast improvement in her team’s ability to shoot lower numbers.
Last year, just one player earned a spot at districts, where players need to shoot 60 or better for nine holes to qualify.
“Already this year we have five players qualified, so that is much improvement,” Miller beamed. “We’re hoping they do well at Snohomish in May for districts.
And out of those five players, which include the team’s stellar top four, could a potential state berth be in store?
“You never know,” Miller said. “It’ll be a longshot, but we have some really good scholar-athletes that play the ball well. On a given day, they would have a shot.”
But regardless if any of Miller’s players make it to the Tri-Cities this May, the season will be remembered most for the great times shared by a close-knit group of girls, and moments like witnessing the shot of a lifetime.
“Over at West Seattle earlier this year, Sydney Howard hit a shot from 100 yards out and it went in the hole,” said Miller when asked her most memorable moment from the season so far.
She added, chuckling, “But it wasn’t quite a hole-in-one.”
INGLEMOOR SHOOTING STRONG
The Inglemoor High girls golf team has had success this season on the links, with a 3-1 match record.
The Vikings are led by a pair of solid upperclassmen, Jenna Harken and Danielle Lungren, and an up-and-coming sophomore in Lisa Malloy who looks to lead the program into the future.
“Jenna and Danielle are our two senior captains, with goals of doing well at the district tournament and qualifying for state,” said Vikings’ head coach Sheri Rosenzweig. “Lisa played quite a bit last summer and improved from her freshman year, I look for her to be our leader next year.”
Malloy’s leadership will be vitally important to the Vikings’ success next season, as they lose four seniors to graduation, including a pair of redhead twins, Megan and Sarah Scharke. The Scharke twins, as well as Harken and Lungren, have been with the program all four years since they were freshman, according to Rosenzweig.
“It sounds cliche, but over the last four years, they really have improved every year,” she noted. “They just have to buckle down right now and spend time on their own practicing.”
Like Miller for Bothell, the majority of Rosenzweig’s work with her squad has been on the short game, as well as developing a sense of work ethic.
“Chipping and putting,” she said on her team’s keys to success. “I talk to them a lot of about their practice regimen. If they never practice out on their own, they’re never going to get any better.”
Among Rosenzweig’s training tools this season is to develop a practice log for her girls, tracking the aspects of the game that they work on in their own time outside of practice.
Inglemoor is fortunate to call the private Inglewood Country Club in Kenmore its home course, but with the team only having access to the facility on Monday and Tuesday, the girls hit a variety of local courses and driving ranges to gain valuable experience.
“On other days, we go all over,” Rosenzweig explained. “For example, today we’re playing the short course at Willows Run.”
Heading down the home stretch, the Vikings have already qualified a number of players to districts at Snohomish early next month, and hope that Harken, Lungren and possibly Malloy can play well enough to punch a ticket to state — where anything can happen.
“Jenna is playing quite well, she has a great chance this year,” Rosenzwieg said. “She’s medaled a couple times with rounds of 42.”
