Managing Editor
With the largest team since 2014, the CSU Bakersfield women’s golf team is hoping depth can help the Roadrunners take the next step this season.
This year’s team has 11 golfers, including 5 new golfers.
The Roadrunners returned six of their seven golfers from last year’s team.
CSUB’s Director of Golf Meghan Thomason, who has been the coach for the past two seasons, said having more players is making the whole team better.
“It creates a lot more competition to make the [five traveling golfers],” Thomason said. “These kids are so motivated anyway. They are working their butts off because they want to play well in tournaments, but it just adds a little extra motivation. I would say that our depth is a part of our strength just because any one of those 11 kids can step into the starting lineup at any point and play well for us.”
Junior Julia Stewart said that having more golfers on the team makes it more competitive but helps to bring out the best in everyone.
“I think we all want to beat each other, but we are also wanting each player to play good,” said Stewart. “We all want to have good scores coming in for the tournaments. We just push each other and focus on trying to do our best.”
CSUB has 10 tournaments this year, including one at the Bakersfield Country Club next March.
Thomason said some of the key returners are juniors Tori Peers, Julia Stewart and Ariel Lee.
In last year’s Western Athletic Conference Championships, Lee finished with CSUB’s lowest score at 234 over three days.
Peers finished with the second lowest score at 242.
Some of the key new golfers are junior April Chang and freshman Macey Mills.
“They came in ready to go,” she said. “They all put in a lot of work over the summer and they are all motivated to make an impact on the team in competition.”
Along with depth, Thomason said the strength of this year’s team is its leadership and work ethic.
“The returners know the way we do things and they have done a great job kind of integrating the new kids,” she said. “I’d say our work ethic is at an all-time high.”
She added that the team needs to improve its decision-making under pressure, such as knowing when to be an aggressive and when to be conservative.
Thomason said the sky is the limit with the team.
“It’s going to depend on it all coming together for a few days for everybody,” she said. “This is not a team of a bunch of individuals. This is truly a team, which is rare in an individual sport.”
Peers said this year everyone is more focused.
“All the new girls and all the older girls have been working really hard,” she said. “We all have the same goal of competing really high in WAC this year.”
Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate
CSUB had its first tournament from Oct. 1 to Oct. 2, which 12 teams competed in.
Santa Clara University took first in the Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate.
Cal Poly took second and UC Riverside took third.
CSUB ended up in last.
However, Thomason said they took some positives away from the first tournament.
“With the new kids, it’s just about gaining more experience,” she said. “
Peers finished with a total of 231 and tied for 31st place. Lee ended with 238 and tied for 42nd. Stewart got 241 and tied for 50th place. Junior April Chang ended up with 244 and took 55th place while Mills had 249 and tied for 60th.
“We had a couple of individual performances in the first tournament, so looking for good things to happen this year,” said Thomason.
Stewart said she took away that she can’t ahead of herself.
“I just think we all need to really take our time during the tournaments,” she said. “You are trying to play good for all your players there. You are trying to win as a team, so you always have to consider that.”
CSUB will next play at Arroyo Grande, Calif. at the Cal Poly Lady Mustang Invitational Oct. 22 and Oct. 23.
