The Carlmont Scots varsity girls golf team beat the Mills Vikings 231-249 at Crystal Springs Golf Course on Oct. 15, closing out the girls’ season.
The Scots finished the season well, with only one loss throughout the entire season. With one of the best records and the best score differential, they were able to seal their way into the Central Coast Section championships.
Going into the last hole, freshman Tessa Lee double-bogeyed to give her the best score on the team of 42. Lee, even as a freshman, has proven to be one of the best golfers throughout the year.
“Tessa Lee was the second-best performer on our team,” said head coach Hari Kurup.
With the Peninsula Athletic League final games coming up, Kurup wants the Scots to prepare by emphasizing one key component.
“Short game, short game, short game,” Kurup said.
To make CCS, the Scots were able to stay focused through the one-hour practices they had. They used various drills to improve each player’s skills.
“We almost spend 40 minutes on putting, chipping, pitching inside 125 yards. The rest of the 20 minutes is on driver and a few other clubs,” Kurup said.
This was the last game for senior captains Kara Kim and Ellie Molholm, two standout players throughout their time on the team.
“The team captains, Ellie Molholm and Kara Kim, did very well. They’ve been playing with us for four years,” Kurup said.
The Scots were excited to achieve their goal for the season.
“We had a goal to repeat as champions, which we will with this win,” Kurup said.
The course gave challenges to the players and affected their games.
“Some of the greens were really slow and some of them were really fast, so it was kinda hard to calibrate each green,” said sophomore Karuna Mungali.
With this being the end of the season, there were mixed emotions around the entire team.
“I was pretty nervous about the match, I wanted to do well on the last match of the season,” Mungali said.
Molholm had a different attitude about her final match for the Scots.
“My mindset was really positive. I wanted to make it my best match,” Molhom said.
The windy weather also provided unpredictable challenges.
“The wind was kind of impactful on today’s round. When you hit irons or like drives, it blows the ball into the wrong direction,” Molholm said.
With CCS coming up, Kurup set out a new goal for the team.
“The next goal is to have a better showing at CCS and have more girls in the top 10 at PALs,” Kurup said.
