On Wednesday, Oct. 16, Fullerton College women’s golf hosted the sixth match of the season while finishing in fourth place with an overall score of 362. The Hornets wore pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month while playing against the teams from OCC (314), Mt. San Jacinto (419), Cuyamaca (325), and Mt. SAC (312).
Ariana Perez, a Freshman player on the first team, has been playing golf since she was in third grade. Perez had started at the Tiger Woods Academy in Anaheim which provided her with the skill and knowledge of the game as a young aspiring player. Aside from being on the women’s golf team, Perez is a dual-enrolled student athlete who is also currently taking classes at UC Irvine.
“I’m excited to get to play with my team members, for some of them it is their last season playing. I also really love playing with our other teams in the division like OCC. They are all really fun and nice girls,” said Perez.
Sophomore Kiana Glossner from Cuyamaca College on the first team started the tee off at noon.
The first team consisted of Perez, Glossner, Sophomore Kylie Lau, and Freshman Michelle Khin. These girls breezed through the 18-hole course with their powerful drives, incredible skill, and determination. Glossner and Khin finished as co-medalists with matching 74’s, Lau (76), and Perez (86).
The first group completed the course in just under four hours. After completing the course and reflecting on her performance, Perez said, “I think I could just improve on putting, especially acclimating to the recently punched greens at Fullerton [Golf Course], it definitely made it tougher.”
“I will spend more time practicing at the range and working on my short game in the chipping and putting area of our practice courses,” Perez said, explaining how she will prepare for the conference finals.
Head coach Naveen Kanal also gave insight on the efforts put in by Perez after coaching her for the past season. “She is incredibly dedicated and hard working.”
Kanal also emphasized the hard work and great performances put in by the Hornets overall from the start of the season up until now. “They’ve been working really hard, they have a great positive energy and now that we’re a month and a half into the season, their scores are starting to drop.”
“You’ve got to put in the effort in the front end–to get the energy right and the attitude right and then the results follow,” said Kanal.
The Fullerton Golf Course is known to be one of the more challenging courses due to it’s layout. “It’s just a course that requires you to play it intelligently–in golf your challenge is the course. If it’s a short course or a tight course. It’s a course that requires shot making and target ball,” said Kanal.
In preparation for the OEC finals, Kanal expressed how the golfers will need to prepare as well and where there is room for improvement. “If they stay focused, play well, eat well, and rest well– good things will happen.”
The next match will be the Orange Empire Conference finals hosted by OCC at the Costa Mesa Country Club on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 11 a.m.