Golf is an individual sport with individual scores. But at Mt. San Jacinto College, the Lady Eagles don't talk much about individual scores – they stress team.
If a teammate has an off day, another teammate steps up. That's their game plan.
It worked well for the Lady Eagles at the Foothill Conference Finals on Sunday and Monday, Oct. 30-31, at the Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon in Beaumont.
When Ya-Ting (Tina) Yang, the conference's Most Valuable Player, shot a 79 on Sunday - well off her average of 72 - Melissa Simpson stepped up her game with an 81. A score about four points lower than what she normally shoots.
"If one person doesn't do so well, then another person does better," said Simpson, a sophomore and team captain. "As a team we really balance ourselves out."
Through Yang and Simpson's effort, along with that of Valerie Zulueta, Vivian Shoemaker, Alexis Moss, and Dominique Lombardi, the Lady Eagles finished second in the Foothill Conference Finals to No. 1 Palomar College.
As the top-two teams from the Foothill Conference, Palomar and MSJC now head for the California Community College Athletic Association Southern California Regional Tournament at Twin Oaks Golf Course in San Marcos, Nov. 7-8.
The Orange Empire and Western State conferences will also send two teams to compete in the regional. The first and second place winners from the regional then advance to the state tournament.
Gene Stillman, MSJC head coach, expects the competition to get much tougher at the regional. He looks for Irvine Valley of the Orange Empire Conference, and College of the Canyons and Glendale College, both from the Western State Conference - along with Palomar - as the teams to beat.
"For us, if we had everybody match their best scores of the year, we would shoot a 312," Stillman said. "All of those teams are capable of shooting in the low 300s. We have our work cut out for us. We will have to play the best we've ever played." But had it not been for that team effort in the conference finals, the Lady Eagles' season could be over.
"During the course of the year, Tina carried us on her shoulders," Stillman said. "Yesterday (Sunday) when she had a little bit of an off day, the girls stepped up and filled the gap.
"Without the players stepping up like they did, we may not have finished in second place in the Foothill."
In Sunday's first round, the Lady Eagles shot a 335, with Yang's 79 and Simpson's 81 leading the way. But Shoemaker and Moss also performed well with an 87 and 88 respectively.
Palomar ran away from the field with a 307; Mt. San Antonio College shot a 339, and College of the Desert was fourth at 389.
That left MSJC in second place heading into Monday's final round.
But again Palomar (30-0) blistered the course with a 300, while MSJC was third at 333, behind Mt. San Antonio with a 326. However, the Lady Eagles were still able to clinch second with a 17-13 record ahead of Mt. San Antonio at 13-17.
Yang led the way on Monday with a 76, followed by Simpson's 81, Zulueta, 82, and Shoemaker shooting a 94.
After Monday's final round, the league held its awards ceremony. Yang garnered the Most Valuable Player award – her second consecutive – and carried a 72.8 average in conference play. "I'm so happy," Yang said, adding that she played much better on Monday by improving two key parts of her game. "I worked on making better second shots and chipping."
Yang was also an All- Conference first-team selection, while Simpson and Zulueta were named to the second team. Because they finished in the top 12 at the conference finals, Simpson and Yang will compete in individual competition at the regional. Zulueta will go as first alternate.
Simpson expects a real challenge at the regional in both team and individual play. And she suspects the Lady Eagles will wear the title of underdog.
"The regionals are a lot more competitive," she said. "We will play against people probably better than us, but we like that competition. It inspires us."
