CCS game results let down the girls golf team

Girls golf team finishes third at CCS, season winning streak ends after loss to Gunn

The girls golf team has continued its great record since its win against Wilcox High School.

Palo Alto High School played against Henry M. Gunn High School for the third time on Thursday Oct. 16 at the par-36 Santa Teresa Golf Course in San Jose and lost with a close score of 200-205.

Aside from the loss against its rival, the team has been on a winning streak. The team won against Saratoga High School 223-231, Monta Vista High School 189-221 and 217-278, Homestead High School 189-215 and 216-261, Lynbrook High School 177-180 and Wilcox High School 216-298.

Though senior Olivia Johnson is proud of how well the team has been doing throughout this season, she still believes that there is much to improve on.

“We’re playing really well so far, but not as good as last year,” Johnson said.  “We lost two crucial members of the team so naturally that would have an effect on the team. We just need to work on not giving up on shots and expecting the rest of the team to carry you.”

The team eventually qualified for the Central Coast Sections (CCS) playoffs on Nov. 4 and came in third place.

“We lost to Gunn by one [stroke],” senior co-captain Michelle Xie said. “We didn’t win CCS, but I won CCS as an individual. Our team came in third. We shot 410. Number one was St. Francis who shot 385 and Gunn shot 409, but as an individual I won with a 67. Some of our players did not play as well as we thought they would, but despite that we still were able to attend NorCals [Northern California Tournament].”

After its success in CCS, the team attended NorCals but did not qualify for the states.

“The team season is technically over, but I’m still playing as an individual,” Xie said. “Personally, I expected myself to do better at CCS, but I knew our team was up for a lot of good competition, so most of the girls did play up to their personal average, and I thought it was really good for them.”

Without her team at states, Xie is confident she will do well, but also aware of the tough competition.

“Since my team isn’t playing at states, there are a lot of good SoCal [Southern California] individuals,” Xie said. “We’ll see how that goes.”