Harbor, CdM pacing scene

Bryce Alderton

High school girls golf in Newport-Mesa has taken flight in the early

stages of the fall, with a few surprises peaking their little heads

out of the grass.

Newport Harbor High, 5-2 in early October, is off to its best

start in Marianne Towersey’s seven years of coaching the girls. The

five-time winner of the Tea Cup Classic also coaches the boys in the

spring.

The Sailors feature only one senior, Carolyn Conway, who also

plays on Newport’s water polo team during the winter.

Sophomore Natalie Draganza leads a team that features six juniors

and one freshman.

Juniors Kayleigh Horn and Ashley Jacobs have each medalled in

matches this year and Katie McKay, Marissa Zehnder, Jennifer Ryder

and Erin Callahan give Towersey and assistant coach Scott Tarnow

balance. Freshman Taylor Funk also adds to the Newport arsenal.

“She seems to have an innate ability with golf,” Towersey said of

Funk. “We want to bring her along and hopefully she will be in the

top five next year.”

With the exception of Draganza, Towersey said the rest of the

Sailors have been golfing for two to three years.

The Sailors finished 8-2 in the Sea View League last year, second

to champion Foothill, earning a spot in the CIF playoffs. The Sailors

defeated the Knights for the first time in league in the final match

of last season, 247-258.

Newport lost to the Knights, 237-240, Sept. 30 at Big Canyon

Country Club to open league play, but both teams figure to be in the

hunt for the league crown again this year, Towersey said.

“All the girls have worked hard and it is starting to pay off,”

Towersey said. “It is looking very good.”

*

Signs are also pointing in the right direction across the Back Bay

at Corona del Mar, where Mike Starkweather enters his sixth year of

guiding that program.

Starkweather also has a young team, featuring three juniors, two

sophomores and a freshman.

But CdM has hardly shown youthful jitters in its opening matches,

breaking the school record for lowest team score twice in a week,

then breaking it a third time.

“I’m excited for the team, but at the same time I am reserved with

the game of golf because anything can happen,” Starkweather said.

Junior Katie Albright, the Pacific Coast League individual

champion last fall, captains CdM, the defending PCL champion, which

finished 16th in the CIF Southern Section team divisionals in 2002.

Juniors Maggie Nelson and Caitlin McDonald, along with sophomores

Katie McKitterick and Veronica Friedman and freshman Jonna Kim, will

all vie to remain in the top five with Michelle Albrecht close

behind.

McKitterick has proven a valuable asset since transferring from

Sage Hill during the summer. McKitterick earned Sage Hills’ Girls

Athlete of the Year honors as a freshman when she played three sports

for the Lightning, but golf wasn’t part of her repertoire there.

“She called and asked to tryout so I said, ‘Certainly,’ ”

Starkweather said. “It has been marvelous for the team. She is very

competitive and that helps them.”

A change from previous years has been the increased work ethic

Starkweather has seen from the girls.

“These kids are playing more and are showing more skills,”

Starkweather said. “In this game, you can’t just pick up a club and

shoot 41. It takes practice.”

*

A crop of incoming freshmen has Estancia Coach Art Perry foaming

at the mouth about the potential for this season.

The Eagles, who finished fifth in the six-team Golden West League

a year ago, may even give Ocean View a challenge. Perry expects the

Seahawks to claim the league title a second consecutive year.

“You never know, we have some good talent on our team,” Perry

said. “We are much improved from last year.”

The freshman class includes Lina You, Bridget Gleason and Josie

Flores, who join returning all-league junior captain Sarah Lambert.

Juniors Karla Ramos and Evelyn Flores, along with sophomores Lauren

Cushing and Lauren Donner, make up the rest of the varsity team.

“The freshmen and sophomores have come on strong,” said Perry, in

his fifth year of guiding girls golf and 18th at Estancia. “Karla has

really improved. She has worked really hard.”

Perry’s son, Jeff, along with John Liebengood, assists the varsity

team. Jeff Perry heads Estancia’s junior varsity team, made up of

seven golfers.

“Our program is thriving right now,” Art Perry said.

*

Repetition is a trait Costa Mesa Coach Todd Kolber is trying to

instill into his group, which, as of Wednesday, was 2-4.

“[Golf] is not the type of thing you can pick up in two weeks,”

Kolber said in reference to the Mustangs, among whom many are still

learning the game’s techniques.

“You have to be patient and understanding,” Kolber said. “You have

to include a lot of hands-on techniques, rules and etiquette and

fundamentals when you are just starting from the beginning.”

Seniors Jean You and Rachel Hughes are the only returners from

last year. You, the older sister of Lina You, finished fifth at

league finals last fall behind the now-graduated Jessica Bunnell, who

took third at the same event. Senior Lindsey Reed and junior Teresa

Stephens join sophomores Melissa Pardue and Reina Layug, along with

freshman Abbigail Dyvig.

“We are not as quite as strong as we hoped to be by this time, but

the girls have a good work ethic and are responsible,” Kolber said.

“Team unity is very good.”

Jon Coury, a longtime marshal at Cypress Golf Course, assists

Kolber.

*

Sage Hill has already eclipsed its win total of a year ago and

second-year coach Erik Gnagy said the nucleus is there for unlimited

improvement.

“They have the athletic ability, it is just a matter of teaching

them how to swing correctly,” Gnagy said. “They need to learn to play

within their capabilities and manage the course. Based on their

current skill levels, they can be competitive. They have to avoid the

blow-up holes.”

If Gnagy sounds as if he focuses on the game’s mental side, it is

because he has a master’s in sports psychology from Cal State

Fullerton and is a PGA apprentice who teaches with David Wright,

founder of Mind Under Par Golf Schools, which features classes at

Pelican Hill Golf Club.

Gnagy wants to instill the beneficial habits slowly to Sage Hill,

3-2, 1-0 in league, as of Wednesday. Mesa, Estancia and Sage Hill are

all members of the Golden West League. Last week the Lightning shot

their lowest round of the season -- a 269 -- at Oak Creek Golf Club

in Irvine.

The Lightning feature four freshmen, two seniors, one junior and

one sophomore.

Emma Koh holds the team’s lowest average with help coming from

fellow freshmen Natalie Kraft, Andrea Han and Bree Jasiewisc. Seniors

Chelsea Vayner and Madyson Page, along with junior Megan McGillivray

and sophomore Michelle Lieberman will also compete for the top five

scores.

The Lightning lost their main scorer a year ago in April Kim, who

qualified for the first round of CIF individuals last fall. She

graduated and is now attending Cornell University.

Gnagy wants to get the girls excited about playing golf and make

it a sport they gravitate toward in the off-season.

“You have to give them a little bit and have them ask for

seconds,” Gnagy said. “You can’t force-feed them. But I don’t want it

to be overkill, where I get them so focused on swing mechanics and

technique that it becomes a burden.”