Golf Girls

Hello All,

The girls' golf season is officially underway.  After a successful scrimmage with Lompoc last week, the girls tackled their first match of the season versus league rival Morro Bay on Monday at Morro Bay Golf Course.  We couldn’t have asked for a better day for golf, the weather was perfect.  The result was about what I expected.  MBHS had a team of returning golfers.  The Saints are made up of two experienced golfers from previous years, senior Sophia Baray and junior Annika Perez.  Also returning is Anabel Santos who spent most of her time on JV last year.  We then have three rookies, all brand new to the game. We have junior Noemi Acevedo, sophomore Monserrat Gonzalez & freshman Emma Juarez.  

With very limit access to Santa Maria Country Club, we only had our first practice there last Tuesday, the returning girls are working off the rust in their games and things are coming around.  The new girls have done a great job at learning the techniques of the golf swing.  I am super impressed with their progress so far.  Monday at MBGC, they were all able to navigate the golf course.  They all hit some really good shots and had some good results.  Although the team result favored MB, I was in no way surprised nor was I disappointed with our performance, quite the opposite.  The potential of these students offers a bright future for girls golf at SMHS.

Yesterday marked our last pre-season match before our league season begins on Monday.  The girls took on Morro Bay at the Santa Maria Country Club.  I’m pleased to report that we continued to improve, lowering our team score by 8 more shots.  We continue to creep up on our goal for the season.  We had some really bright spots yesterday.  The Saints were led by Sophia Baray with a personal best 57.  Anabel Santos also had a season best, just one shot off her personal best from last year.  Annika Perez made a solid contribution even on a challenging day where the breaks didn’t seem to go her way.  

Our rookies (Emma, Noemi & Monserrat) continue to improve.  They may not feel it, and it hasn’t really shown in their scores yet, but I recognize their improvement. Two weeks ago they were happy when they hit the ball and it went anywhere.  Now they get frustrated when it doesn’t go where they want it to go, which is usually the case.  They are right on the edge of having their scores take their first big drop of the season.  We also had two girls join the team on Tuesday (Joselin & Yulissa), and they are showing great promise even in their earliest days of their golf careers.

Our first league tournament is on Monday at Dairy Creek Golf Course in San Luis Obispo.  This year, our league consists of Morro Bay, Nipomo, Mission Prep, Paso Robles and Templeton.

The girls' golf team had a successful week of competitions this week.  The girls continue to improve their skills, and their scores continue to improve.

On Monday, we faced off against the other five schools in our league in our first of six league tournaments.  Mission Prep was the host at Dairy Creek Golf Course in SLO.  Many modern golf courses are challenging for girls because they long and the girls don’t hit the ball far.  Dairy Creek is not that course. The course is built back into a canyon of El Chorro park.  There isn’t a flat area on the whole course.  It is challenging because being off your intended line of play can result in dramatic, even punishing results.  One yard right or left can be the difference between being in the short grass of the fairway or being in the middle of the native brush.  It’s challenging.  As such, I commend the girls.  They had their best team score of the season.  Annika Perez continues to lead the team, finishing in 4th place overall.  Anabel Santos hit a personal best, as did Emma Juarez.  Being the team with the most players brand new to golf in the league, our goal was not to finish in last place.  And we didn’t. We beat host Mission Prep by one shot, 330-331.

On Wednesday, we hosted Cabrillo at SMCC in one of our last home matches for a few weeks.  Cabrillo is in a higher league than us, but the girls, once again, lowered their season best as a team to a score of 321.  Once again, Annika led the team even through a difficult round.  Sophia Baray contributed her usual score.  Anabel dropped her season best by one or two shots, and Emma broke into the 60s for the first time, shooting her second personal best of the week. Monserrat Gonzalez also had a personal best on the day.

The girls are learning the game. Their skills improve daily, and I expect them to become much more competitive as the season progresses.  

Girls Golf Weekly Recap

The Girls Golf team had a busy week! With SMCC closed for annual maintenance, the team spent the week on the road for away matches and tournaments, gaining valuable experience and putting in strong performances.

Monday: The Saints competed against the other five Ocean League schools in the second tournament of the season at Monarch Dunes (front nine) in Nipomo. While the team finished 6th, just behind Mission Prep, they recorded their best score of the season with a 306—a 48-shot improvement from the first match! Even more impressive, five of the six players shot their personal bests: Annika Perez broke 50 for the first time with a 48, Anabel Santos carded a 60, Yulissa Mendez posted a 68, Monserrat Gonzalez broke 70 with a 69, and Noemi Acevedo shot a 73.

Wednesday: The Saints battled through a 45-minute lightning delay at Rancho Maria against OAHS, finishing with a 308 on a much tougher course. Despite the challenge, the girls played their best golf after the delay. Highlights included Annika Perez making a stellar par on the difficult hole #6—one of only three pars recorded all day between both teams. Emma Juarez, Joselin Morales, and Noemi Acevedo each earned new personal records as well.

Thursday: The team took on league rival Nipomo at the Monarch Dunes Challenge Course, a tricky 12-hole layout of all par 3s, many of them over water. Senior Sophia Baray delivered one of the highlights of the season, hitting a beautiful shot over the lake on hole #3 and sinking the short putt for her first-ever birdie. Not to be outdone, Anabel Santos nearly birdied hole #5 with a spectacular tee shot, and later on hole #10, she pulled off a perfectly executed “Texas Wedge” from 90 yards, rolling her driver-shot onto the green and leaving herself with an 8-foot putt. (Watch the video to see the result—we were lucky enough to capture the moment!)

Thank you for continuing to support our Girls Golf team. If you have these student-athletes in class, you already know how hardworking and inspiring they are—both on and off the course!

Hello All,

Just a quick girls golf update: Our only event this week was the league tournament in Morro Bay yesterday. The girls played well, with results coming down to just a few strokes—they finished within five shots of beating both Mission Prep and Templeton. Annika Perez once again led the Saints with a 56, while the other five girls stayed closely matched, highlighted by a personal best from Joseline Morales.

The moment of the day, however, belonged to Emma Juarez. After hitting her tee shot short of the green on the par-three 4th hole, she chipped onto the green and sank her putt for her first-ever par—an exciting milestone I wish I could have seen!

Looking ahead, next Monday we’ll be hosting our league tournament at Santa Maria Country Club. If you’d like to come out and watch, there will still be plenty of golf left after school ends at 4:00. For many of the girls in our league, it will be their first time playing 18 holes.

Thank you for your continued support!

The girls' golf team had a successful, though at times frustrating, week.

On Monday, the Saints once again set the standard for hosting with the latest Ocean League tournament. For the first time this season—and for many, the first time ever—the girls played a full 18 holes. Incredibly, every one of them finished in under five hours, a major milestone considering nine holes had previously taken them over three hours.

The day also brought some outstanding individual accomplishments. Despite being short-handed due to illness, family, and school commitments, the four Saints who competed shined. Anabel Santos shot a personal best on the back nine and carded her second birdie in as many weeks with a near-perfect approach on hole 15. Sophia Baray lowered her personal best by four strokes, shooting a 52 on the front nine. Noemi Acevedo posted her best-ever 18-hole round. And the highlight of the day belonged to Annika Perez, who fired a career-best 99—her first time breaking 100—and claimed medalist honors with the lowest round of the tournament. It’s been a long time since the Saints could boast the league’s top finisher!

On Wednesday, the team hosted Nipomo at SMCC for a shortened front-nine match. The girls played with confidence and had plenty of highlights: Emma Juarez closed with a par on the final hole, Yulissa Mendez broke into the 50s with a 55, Joselin Morales joined her in the 50s, and both Monserrat Gonzalez and Noemi Acevedo carded personal bests. As a team, the Saints came within one shot of Nipomo—their closest result of the season so far.

Beyond the course, this team continues to impress. The girls golf program holds the highest GPA of any team at SMHS, with all eight players above a 3.2, five above a 4.0, and a team GPA of 3.9. Their highest individual GPA is an incredible 4.43. This is a remarkable achievement, especially considering the time commitment required for golf. To borrow a saying—if you know these girls, you know why they’re so special.

Next week marks the home stretch: the league tournament in Paso Robles on Monday, followed by Senior Night on Wednesday against PVHS. With just one senior, perhaps we should call it “Sophia Night”!

The SMHS Boosters are hosting a fundraiser golf tournament this Saturday afternoon to support the girls and boys golf teams. We are looking for a volunteer to serve as the witness for the $10,000 Hole-in-One prize. The role is simple—just sit at the green, watch the players take their shots on that hole, and, if someone makes a hole-in-one, sign to confirm you witnessed it so the prize can be awarded.

The commitment will be about two hours, sometime between 2:00 and 6:30 p.m., as 16 groups make their way through. If you’d like to spend a couple of hours outdoors while supporting our teams, we’d love to have your help. Lunch and snacks will be provided.

Please contact me directly for more details.

The last two weeks have been very busy for the Lady Saints golf team!
We made two trips to Paso Robles for league tournaments—one at Paso Robles Golf Course and the other at Hunter Ranch Golf Course.

Highlights

Paso Robles Tournament

• Sophia Baray shot a personal-best score of 50 for nine holes—her PR—and earned 3rd place as an individual.

• As a team, the girls posted their best overall score on a longer course than they’re used to playing.

• After consistently finishing near the bottom in past tournaments, the girls earned a victory over Mission Prep—a huge accomplishment!

• Yulissa Mendez also recorded a personal best that day.

Templeton Tournament @ Hunter Ranch

• Annika Perez finished 2nd overall, just three strokes behind the medalist.

• The rest of the team faced challenges on this tough course. Hunter Ranch—often compared to La Purisima—is long and demanding, and most league scores reflected that difficulty.

Dual Matches with PVHS

• We celebrated Senior Night on October 8. Although PVHS came out on top, it was a special evening to honor our only senior, Sophia Baray, who has played four years of golf and grown tremendously both as a player and as a young woman.

• On October 16, we competed again—this time at PVHS’s home course. The girls had a great experience during their Senior Night as well, even with a similar outcome.

Ocean League Finals @ Santa Maria Country Club

The Ocean League Finals were played yesterday, and all our players performed close to their season averages, as expected.

At the awards ceremony, three Lady Saints earned All-League honors:

• Anabel Santos – Honorable Mention
  Recognized for her consistency and positive attitude. If you know Anabel, you know how her smile and spirit lift the whole team.

• Sophia Baray – Second Team
  Sophia’s late-season surge, highlighted by her 50 at Paso Robles, propelled her up the leaderboard and into Second Team recognition. Her solid play at Finals sealed the deal.

• Annika Perez – First Team
  Annika consistently placed in the top 5–6 in every tournament. While many players’ scores rise and fall, Annika’s steady play earned her the title of #4 player in the league.

Congratulations, Lady Saints!

These girls have dedicated countless hours to practice and competition, missing dozens of classes while proudly representing SMHS—and still maintaining an impressive team GPA of 3.9. That alone speaks volumes about their commitment and character.

With only one graduating senior, the future looks bright for the Lady Saints as they continue to refine their skills and return even stronger next year.

Thank you all for your continued support of these incredible young women!