Avoiding trees, bunkers and even squirrels, the Lady Vaqueros secured their number one spot in the league by winning their home conference match at Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena on Monday.
The Vaqueros are currently number one their league with a 5-1 record.
This is the first time since Head Coach Greg Osbourne, a GCC alumni, took over the program five years ago that the women’s team has won its home event.
“I’m really proud of the girls,” said Osbourne. “Although our scores should have been better. What matters is that we stay ahead of our competition.”
The team collectively said that it is aiming to win the state championship this year since last year it came in second to Palomar College by only one stroke.
While Glendale took first with a score of 326, College of the Canyons took second with a score of 333, Santa Barbara City College (333), Bakersfield College (374) and Citrus College (422).
The top performer for Glendale was Pattraporn Silawanna, a sophomore who scored a 78.
Glendale kept its scores low with a final overall total of 326. Silawanna shot a 78, Vicanda Ma (81), Thanawan Sriratchaya (82), Jasmine Daniel (85), Fanny Ostlund (86) and Chardae Hudson (95).
While the women had low scores, Sriratchaya said she performed “all right.”
“I only regret four holes this time instead of nine like last time,” she added.
Although golf is largely an individual sport, the team is close and they said that their cohesiveness helps them overall. “We don’t separate ourselves,” said Sriratchaya. “We want to help each other.”
Before every match the women chant “dong chana” which, according to the team, is Thai for “we have to win.”
Even though it was a home event, Brookside is not the team’s usual golf course. This made their win exceptionally satisfying. Osbourne described the Brookside Golf Course as a “tough course.”
The team normally practices at Oakmont Golf Club on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, since the women are all enrolled in several classes, it is difficult to practice often. “School comes first,” said Osbourne. “For them to do that [the practice schedule], while keeping up their academics is great.”
In addition to the Tuesday and Thursday practices at Oakmont, the team practices every Wednesday at the upcoming match site.
Even though the women had seen the course before, most of the team agreed with Daniel when she said that the toughest hole on the course was “the number two hole, because it was very long.”
Sriratchaya said that the team “takes each course one step at a time.”
“The girls have proved that they have developed a winning tradition,” said Osbourne. “They take pride in representing the school.”
While the women represent the school, they also represent a large area since Pasadena City College and Los Angeles Valley College don’t have golf programs.
“We like that we can represent a large amount of people well with a small number of players,” said Osbourne.
The women’s team is made up of players from all over. Daniel is a graduate of John Burroughs High School, Ostlund is from Sweden and Sriratchaya graduated from Watkhemapirataram School in Thailand.
Osbourne said he was proud of all of his players. “Jasmine was even on par on the backside and kept it together,” said Osbourne. “That shows a lot.”
Sriratchaya said that the team is going to prepare for the upcoming match by going to the driving range as much as possible.
The Lady Vaqueros will defend their number one position in the league at their next match on Monday at the Tierra Rojada Golf Course in Moorpark at 10 a.m.
