This week marked the halfway point of the Central California Conference girls golf season and Turlock and Pitman High both finished strong in the Mid-Season Tournament, held at Rancho del Rey in Atwater on Thursday.
Turlock pulled off a nice edge in the back nine to solidify a top score of 491, four strokes ahead of second place Buhach Colony (495).
“The gals hung in there today and that is why we were able to come out with a win,” Turlock head coach Mary Krupka said. “Each player did their job of keeping things close or taking care of business and beating their opponents. This was total a team win.”
Pitman had the top scorer of the day in Taylor Beckwith (75). Beckwith began the day in a rough patch after going four over in the first five holes of the day, but she kept her calm and helped her team finish third with a score of 516.
“I was proud of the girls and of Taylor. Most golfers would break under such a bad start, but in typical Taylor fashion, she reset her mind, got to work and finished the rest of the holes one under,” Pitman head coach Kris Shaw said. “The girls played through a tough, fatiguing day and shot well for all the things we have been working on.”
After a turnaround performance from Beckwith, she looks to be the clear favorite for yet another Most Valuable Player title for the CCC.
Pitman is currently sitting in third place in the CCC standings and Turlock is first.
“Our goal will be to win and create a little bit of a cushion going into the end of the season. Being at TGCC, it will be a goal to protect our home course when we face Buhach on Thursday,” Krupka said.
“Although Atwater is right behind us, we only got them by two strokes last outing, so we are looking forward to that match in Diablo,” Shaw said.
In the CCC tournament, Diana Calzada of Pitman had the second best score of the day with an 82 and the third best score for the Pride was Nikita Samra (109).
“I thought our girls had the best day of golf based on their previous play. I was very excited for them considering it is a tough course and the weather was hot,” Shaw said. “They had to be mentally tough today, and they were. We still have some improving to do to match strokes with Turlock and Buhach.”
Turlock's Brooke Vierra topped out for all Bulldogs with an 88 for the day. Preethi Singh placed second on the team after shooting an 88 and third was Allie Malmberg with a 101.
“My players knew that we had to stay in it for 18 holes, so keeping focus and not pooping out was an important thing for them to control,” Krupka said. “I am pretty satisfied with the performance. Score was a tad high for now, but we kept our heads screwed on and didn't give up when things got tough.”
Turlock's next match will be at home against Buhach Colony at 3 p.m. Thursday.
The next match for Pitman will be at Pheasant Run against Golden Valley at 3 p.m. Oct 6.
