Choate’s New Team: Girls Golf Prepares to Sweep the Greens
By Max Mullen ’08
Editor
This year, there is a new varsity sport on the Choate campus. The first ever Girls Varsity Golf team, led by Captain Katie Partridge ’10 and head coach Stephen Farell has begun its quest to compete with the other powerhouse teams in the Founders League, such as Taft, Loomis Chaffee, and Hotchkiss. The team practices with the boy’s squad at Traditions Golf Course in Wallingford, and works also with boys coaches Bob Demarco and John Marinan.
Asked for a word to describe the team, Partridge said “very young.” The girls team is made up of five scoring members, however this year, the team only holds four. Following Partridge in the ladder is CJ Bernstein ’11, then Ashley Holt ’11, and finally Pim Chirathivat ’11. Originally the fifth member of the team was Lily Colley ’08, however she quit the team due to personal reasons. This departure has left the team in a bit of a quandary. At this point, the team is forced to forfeit the fifth point every match, forcing them to win 3 out of 4 matches instead of 3 out of 5.
The format of the interscholastic matches is match play. The top five square off against the top five from another school. The first player plays the first player from the other squad and so on. A win receives one point, a loss zero points and an all-square match receives half a point. On a nine-hole course, this means almost every shot is crucial.
The future of the team looks bright, as this nucleus will be around for at least the next three years.
Director of Athletics, Ned Gallagher is pleased with the progress of the team so far. “In creating this team, we weren’t sure what to expect, but it has worked out nicely,” he said. Partridge agrees, “We weren’t sure how many girl golfers there were on campus, and it was a nice surprise to have seven girls show up.” There were two cuts before Colley’s departure.
The first two matches against Taft and Loomis have shown that “we are all still learning” said Partridge. Against Taft, the girls suffered a heartbreaker 2-3 loss, and Loomis’s 4-1 defeat was “very disappointing, especially for me,” said Partridge about her performance. However, there have been some bright spots. Ashley Holt defeated both her opponents, solidifying her status as a “solid three player” said Partridge. Partridge, who has played on the boys JV squad, and may have a chance to move up to Boys Varsity, has been a force at one. In comparing girls’ golf to guys’ golf, Partridge says simply “Girls have more fun!” Also, although they have been winless in the first two matches, CJ Bernstein ’11 playing the “toughest spot” at 2 and Pim Chirathivat ’11, have been “fighters for us out there,” according to Patridge.
The team will have a one month break to attempt to recruit a fifth player, as well as prepare for their dual match vs. Taft and Williston Northampton. They end their season with the Founders League Championship at Hotchkiss, and then finally a dual match vs. Hotchkiss to end the season. The team sees a bright future, as this talent, plus possible new recruits next year will bolster this program to be a force to be reckoned with.
