Bakersfield, Ca. After the final two days of the WSC season, the SBCC Women's Golf team has advanced to the Southern California Regionals. Needing a 3rd or 4th place overall finish to advance, the Vaqueros took care of business despite being without #1 scorer Sophie McCoy. The remaining four players: Megan Duncan, Kimberly Luby, Emily Ruiz and Ella Arce needed to step up in a big way to get the team to the playoffs. "Without Sophie out there, we had our work cut out for us," said head coach Devin Engbretsen. "Even though golf is thought of as an individual sport, we witnessed the true team element of it this weekend." What Engebretsen is referring to is the fact that SBCC had four golfers who needed to play well enough to score in the top-4 of the WSC Finals. "Emily Ruiz really stepped up and led the way as she was our 2-day low scorer," added Engebretsen. Ruiz shot 89/88 followed by Duncan's 88/90, Luby's 93/87, and Arce's 99/110. "Each of our golfers had at least one good day of scoring, which is huge because this was a 2-day scoring event. Kim really stepped up in day 2 with that 87, and Megan was steady both days. Both know they can even do better in Regionals next week," said Engebretsen.
The Vaqueros also saw McCoy and Duncan make first-team all-conference by finishing in the top 11 scorers throughout WSC play. McCoy finished her scoring average at 83.5, good for 6th place in the WSC while Duncan's average of 87.5 brought home 11th in the WSC. "I think it is a huge success for both Sophie and Megan to make the all-conference team. It shows their work ethic and dedication throughout the entire year, from 6:30 am practice rounds, to study hall attendance and weight room commitments. I am very proud of them," commented Engebretsen. Ruiz and Luby finished the season with identical averages of 89.67 and a tie for 14th place. Arce ended the season with an average of 101.67 and a 23rd place finish (out of 33 players).
The Vaqueros look to extend their season through next weekend as they attempt to qualify for the 3C2A State Finals. The SoCal Regionals are hosted by the WSC this year at Simi Hills Golf Club in Simi Valley, Ca. The Vaqs tee off Sunday, November 5 at 10 am. Monday tee times are contingent on Sunday's finish. In order to qualify as a team, SBCC will have to finish in the top 4 of the 8 teams participating in the Regionals. Individual slots then go to the top-7 finishers whose teams either did not qualify for the state finals, or were trying to qualify as individuals already as their team did not qualify for the Regional.
