Girls golf swings their way through a successful season

Yealin Lee, Videographer

Marina Santana De Valdez
Junior and girls golf captain Hannah Cancel strikes the ball at the 13th hole at the Sycuan golf course on Thursday Oct. 24th. Cancel was in the 3rd group with three other girls from Eastlake High School, Otay Ranch High School and Mater Dei Catholic High School.

The sun beamed down on Singing Golf Resort with a high temperature of 98 degrees fahrenheit. Glistening drops of sweat roll down Bonita Vista High’s girls golf team as they concentrate during one of their biggest games of their current season. Compared to the 2018-19 season, many changes have impacted the team, like getting better scores, and new players.

The golf team this year had a successful season, overall they were able to accomplish many goals they made this season. Many of the athletes were able to improve their personal best scores, evidence for the improvements they made this year.

“This year we placed third overall in our district’s division. It’s very good considering we lost two girls and two of our players were new to the sport. For me, my scores improved a lot compared to last year,” junior and co-captain Hannah Cancelsaid.

According to Bianes, a huge part of their success was due to their coach, Mike Wegenka, who would encourage positivity and make sure everyone was comfortable. Furthermore, Wegenka’s previous experience in golf helps the athletes continue to decrease their strokes, which are the number of times it takes for a golf player to score during one round.

“Our coach is really supportive and helpful because he himself also plays golf. Additionally he makes sure we have a positive mindset and makes sure it’s a positive environment,” Bianes said.

The girls golf team’s score has improved, but that was not the only change. This season there was not any seniors, but many juniors, and newcomers. According to Wegenka, having the same team for multiple years, something that will occur for his team next year, is a benefit because the athletes are familiar with each other.

“This year’s team has no seniors, so the good thing is that we have all juniors and a new freshmen coming out and a sophomore, so we will be the same team again next year which will be a benefit,” Wegenka said.

The golf team had many satisfying accomplishments this season and will have a benefit next season because there are going to be the same players. They are one of the best golf teams in the state, and are able to compete with other schools to move up the ranks. These accomplishments of competing at the state level and and joining CIF lets them know that they are doing well.

“We made CIF again this year, and a couple of the girls made CIF individually that didn’t make it last year, which is great. We also made [the] CIF playing match, which will be next week against Torrey Pines, and Eastlake in a tri match. That’s really great,” Wegenka said.

There is a goal in the minds of the coach and the athletes in the girl’s golf team, which is winning league. There is competition with Mater Dei Catholic High School, who Bianes claims are “very good”. Although, they are nervous for the competition, it encourages them and shows them how they are performing.

“[Mater Dei] is a very good team, and we have them in our league, and they have been state champion [for the] last couple [of] years. Knowing that we have a state championship team next door, that we have to play a couple times a year, that’s a good sign in a way because we are losing to the best there is in the whole state,” Wegenka said.

Their success is encouraging the team to do better because there are improvements that could still be made and the girl’s golf team at BVH has already planned it out. Their main goal at the beginning of this season was to practice more often, so they would be able to adjust when coming back to the season and gain more experience. Wegenka has learned that the athletes had a hard time getting back their swings when they first started the season, so the next season, he will make sure to get practice time before.

“We’ll go out and practice. I am hoping during the off season this year they [will] practice more and play a little bit more tournaments during the off season. This year it took a couple [of] weeks to kind of get our swings back because they didn’t really play over the break. [If they did practice before the season they would be] ready to play,” Wegenka said.

Despite the slow start to the season, the support system in the girl’s golf team is strong, according to Cancel. They are able to encourage each other and keep a positive mindset. The cooperation of their teammates lets them learn from each other. Since Wegenka can’t watch everyone at once the athletes learned to rely on each other.

“They all get along really great. And I give them a lot of leeway because of that, because it’s an individual sport. I can’t be out there coaching them when they are playing, they got to do it on their own. It’s nice to know that they can count on each other and play well together,” Wegenka said.