She’s hesitant to admit it, but Maria Stoica knows she hasn’t played her best golf yet this season. But look in her eyes, and one can see that she possesses all the drive in the world to change that.
It’s true, the Inglemoor High senior did take second at the recent 4A Kingco tournament and qualified for this week’s state event. However, after sitting out nearly a month with an injury, the third-time state swinger is just getting into her groove.
And she’s set to unleash some stellar drives, chips and putts today and tomorrow at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
“Just be confident in myself and my game — I know I have a good game,” Stoica said last Wednesday afternoon while teammates organized golf gear in the Inglemoor High library. “Just focus on me, and not what everyone else is playing like. It’s my last year and I want to do really well, but it’s kind of nerve-racking, there’s a lot of pressure to do good.”
Stoica scored 82-78-160 at Kingco to send her to state again — she went as a freshman at Monroe High (finishing 16th with a second-round, personal high-school low of 76) and as a junior at Inglemoor (11th place) last spring. Her lowest-ever round was an even-par 72 — second round, again — during a Washington Junior Golf Association match at the Whidbey Island Golf and Country Club.
Inglemoor coach Sheri Rosenzweig looks forward to seeing what Stoica can accomplish at state.
“Placing second in district, that was significant,” the coach said. “She’s learned quite a bit about bouncing back from (an injury) or a bad hole. She’s got a beautiful swing and is technically solid.”
Lately, Stoica has been watching the Golf Channel religiously and keeping an eye on Tiger Woods and Paula Kramer’s techniques to inspire her on the course.
“They’re very consistent,” said Stoica, who traded in her tennis racquet for golf clubs five years ago. “With Tiger, knowing what he went through (an injury and comeback), it makes me think that if I get in a tough situation, ‘Well, Tiger did it.’
“A round of golf has its ups and downs the whole way,” she added. “You can always have room for improvement.”
While she misses life on the tennis court, Stoica can thank her dad for introducing her to the world of golf, with its green landscape, calm atmosphere and variety of holes to shoot at. She laughs when noting that bird watching on the course is fun, as well.
That’s not to say it isn’t frustrating at times.
“With golf, you just learn to be very patient and persistent — and always keep trying,” said Stoica, a standout International Baccalaureate student at Inglemoor who will attend the University of Washington, Bothell in the fall. “I like the challenge of trying to shoot low rounds, have fun shooting my lowest score. Just be really relaxed and don’t be so nervous or get upset — there’s no point in it.”
