The clouds cleared and the sun shone as the Foothill Girls’ Golf team competed in the Tri-Valley League Individual’s Championships on the afternoons of the 17th and 19th of October at the River Ridge Golf Course. The athletes competed on the Victoria Lakes Course on Monday and the Vineyard Course on Wednesday.

Olivia Cate ‘17 ended with an overall score of 193, Anna Pyron ‘19 with an overall score of 174, Sammy Fenton ‘20 with an overall score of 147, Kelly More ‘20 with an overall score of 163, Hannah Hart ‘20 with an overall score of 143, and Paris White ‘19 with an overall score of 141. This tournament is one of the last matches of the season and only the top athletes are eligible to compete.

Cate felt that the course was more difficult than what the team is used to. However, she felt that each girl played “great” and was proud of the improvement that the team made throughout the season.

“I am really proud of my team; we were a little shaky at first with over half of the team being new but as the season went on we got closer and closer and it became more fun to go to practices,” Cate said.

“I’m also really proud because this is only our second season and we went undefeated so that was kind of an ego boost for the team,” she continued.

Cate isn’t the only one who is proud of her team’s accomplishments. White enjoys getting the recognition from her competitors and their teams for being named League Champions.

Cate believes that while the golf team does not get mentioned at school very often, “an accomplishment for any of the sports is an accomplishment for [Foothill].”

Although seniors at Foothill can still compete as Buena or Ventura High School athletes, Cate likes competing for Foothill and loves the “excitement” that comes when any Foothill team wins a “big game.”

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However, Cate’s favorite moment of the season was when her team found out that they had “won big” and were League Champions.

“It was a really big moment for us because at the beginning of the season […] we won a few [matches], but once we beat our biggest competitors, we were thinking ‘wow we might actually go undefeated,’” said Cate. “So after our last match with Nordhoff, we were so happy and just proud of each other and the team.”

White is also proud of the team’s improvements that they have made throughout the season, but is specifically proud of her own accomplishments. With the help of Coach Janey Dunn, White has developed her skills when “getting out of the hazards,” and has improved since the beginning of the season.

Hart believes that she has improved since the beginning of the season as well. According to Hart, she has become “more consistent with [her] ball striking” skills and her “ball chipping has gotten much better.”

She said she is sad that the she can only compete a few more times before this season comes to a close but she loves the environment that Foothill provides and is “excited” for next season.

“We just have one senior so we’re only losing one person and who knows what good freshmen we could get, it’ll be very exciting,” she said.

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Although More felt that she had some bad moments during Monday’s match, she felt that she played better on Monday than she did on Wednesday due to the heat and wind that were present throughout Wednesday’s match.

Cate also felt that the weather affected her play but that the girls played well considering the weather conditions. While she did not feel at her best, she “had fun along the way.”

“It was a very challenging course for all of us actually and with the wind and heat, it didn’t make for a great golf match day to be honest,” Cate said.

Cate is sad that her golf career is ending soon, but she is “excited to see what the future has in store for [her when she] graduates.” Although she will not be play golf competitively after high school she plans to continue to play when she can.

“Golf isn’t really showing up in my future professionally but I’ll always love the game and get out to play whenever I can, I enjoy it’s great exercise, low impact,” she said. “I’ll play it forever.”

According to White, the team will miss Olivia and hope that she will come back to visit. However, she is “looking forward” to finishing off the rest of the “2016 season” with her team and “can’t wait” to compete for Foothill next year.

“I wouldn’t think of competing for any other team,” she said.