With one goal in mind, junior Jenna Alvarado teed off on a par five and hit a drive down the fairway. On the next hit, she sent the ball off the hole and into the woods. Disappointed, Alvarado found her ball behind a tree, hit it with a wedge and then landed it on the green. Despite the setback, Alvarado achieved her goal. She made a birdie in Arizona.
The golf team went to Arizona from Aug. 30 to Sept. 3 to compete in the Antigua National High School championship, sponsored by Ping. The team finished 17th overall and won the Ping Challenge. Juniors Jenna Alvarado and Bailey Bednar had the lowest scores of the day with a 86 and 87.
“It was really fun just being with my team in a different state,” Alvarado said. “Getting to experience that was so unbelievable.”
During this tournament, Coach Chad Redwine experienced the 109-degree temperatures and unusual conditions with the team. The course had a longer track than what they normally played on, playing a 6,000 yard track compared to the 5100 yards normally. PGA uses this course for qualifier tournaments.
“It was a great experience for the girls and we improved tremendously throughout the tournament,” Redwine said.
The team competed in the Team Ping Challenge, which consisted of putting, chipping, pitching, long drive and flop shot competitions. In addition to the team win, junior Mikayla Drennan won the Ping Chipping Challenge.
“I couldn’t believe we won the contest to be honest,” Drennan said. “I was proud of us though. I definately made the team think twice about who we are as a team because we beat the best teams. It shows we can rely on each other to help get our team to the next level.”
