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Coming off a fourth-place finish in last year’s Pacific Coast Athletic League championship tournament, the Hollister High School girls golf team is preparing to tee off its season.
“Last season was really all about grit and grinding it out,” senior varsity golfer Jasleen Bailey said. “You have to be really determined because you’re going against people that are going to college for golf, and so you take Hollister High School, where we just have athletes that are from here.”
Bailey said the girls golf program competes in a league made up largely of private schools, many of which offer scholarships to international players.
“It’s all about jumping over that obstacle and being able to play the best you can with the team you have, and we are pretty competitive,” Bailey said.
Aiyanna Bailey, Jasleen’s twin sister and fellow senior golfer, said the team struggled last season with maintaining a positive mental attitude. Aiyanna said that during the offseason, the players have worked on getting into the right headspace through positive affirmations.
“All the girls were great last year. We really came together as a team and as a group, and I think that’s what really made a huge difference in our playing,” she said.
Aiyanna said the team’s goal this year is to qualify for the state tournament.
“We have a great chance at it this year, and I think it would be great for our program and great for all the girls,” she said. “We have pride in our small town, and we can compete with the big dogs like Stevenson, which scholarships girls from other countries.”
Varsity head coach Molly Orsetti is entering her 13th year coaching girls golf, and though there is no official summer practice or conditioning program for the team, she runs a Twilight League and junior golf camps that members of both the girls and boys golf teams can participate in during the offseason.
“It gives them a reason to get out and play golf during the summer to keep their skills up,” Orsetti said.
Orsetti said the coaching staff has been working to implement more structured short-game practice, helping the players improve their distance control and develop and execute plans for short-shot attempts.
“The team has become more aware as they become more mature on where they can save strokes,” Orsetti said. “So now they’re aware that they need to focus on improving their putting and their short game in order to improve on their overall score, which will improve on our overall team score and hopefully lead to more victories.”
She said each year the girls golf program sees a number of players who begin the sport with no prior experience.
“We just don’t have a robust junior golf program in San Benito County,” she said, “so it’s not like Hollister Heat, where these kids have been playing since they were five years old. I get a lot of players who are starting golf as freshmen, sophomores, juniors, even seniors who’ve never played before.”
In addition to coaching high school golf, Orsetti coaches middle school golf at Southside Elementary School in an effort to help create a larger junior golf program in San Benito County.
“If we can do something in San Benito County that mirrors programs like Hollister Heat, where we have kids starting very young, we will be more competitive as a high school in the future,” Orsetti said.
The Baler girls golf team will host its season opener Sept. 2 against Santa Catalina at Ridgemark Golf Club and Resort. Orsetti encourages the community to attend home matches.
BenitoLink thanks our underwriter, Hollister Rotary, for helping expand the sports coverage around San Benito County. Rotary is a nonprofit organization that conducts humanitarian projects, encourages high ethical standards, and works toward world understanding. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.
The BenitoLink Internship Program is a paid, skill-building program that prepares local youth for a professional career. This program is supported by Monterey Peninsula Foundation AT&T Golf Tour and Taylor Farms.
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