Riviera’s golf program continues to gain momentum after a historic season, in which junior Danica Ortega became the first player in school history to qualify for the state championship, and teammate Miranda Borges advanced to regionals. This year, both veterans and newcomers are proving that golf deserves a place alongside the school’s most competitive sports.
When people think of competitive sports, basketball, volleyball, and soccer are usually the first that come to mind. Team sports often dominate the athletic spotlight, leaving individual sports, like golf, in the shadows. However, golf, often misunderstood as dull and uneventful, is actually among the most complex sports.
Because golf is an individual sport, players face significant pressure. On the course, all eyes are on them, which can take a toll on their self-esteem.
Junior Miranda Borges, a varsity player who has been golfing since age five and has been playing for varsity since sixth grade, said, “Learning how to come back from a bad shot and shooting the lowest scores…it takes a lot of brain power to do that, and many people underestimate that.”
Borges emphasizes the sport’s intense competitiveness. An aspect that makes golf a competitive sport is how isolated one may feel as an individual. Although they are considered a team, each player gets their own score.
With a combination of her self-determination and dedication, Borges has been playing her best season. “My average is even, and my team is doing pretty well, too.” It is essential to consider that tournaments can be tedious and often take an entire day to complete. “A fast tournament is four hours, and a bad tournament is six to seven hours,” Borges said.
Despite the peer pressure, Borges loves the sport, and her favorite part of golf is traveling to new places and playing courses around the world. She has competed everywhere, from the Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic to Scotland.
Sophomore Francisco Collado, a JV golf player, has a different perspective on the game, “Golf is a good sport for the future. Owners of companies like to play golf, and they like to play golf with their employees,” Collado said.
Interested in pursuing business for his future, he believes golf will help him prepare for making connections with employers and coworkers. Despite being new to the game, he is determined to improve his skills. Collado also said golf is a demanding sport for one specific reason: “It’s a single-player sport, so you have no one to rely on.” Collado is accustomed to playing soccer, a team sport, making this adjustment difficult.
Athletic director Courtney Young said golf is more technical than it seems. “You will never repeat the same shot in golf twice,” he said. In every game, one is confronted with different angles and different distances. As a result, there is no way to fully prepare for it.
In addition to its unpredictability, Young said golf can get obsessive. “In golf, you’re never really satisfied. So, it’s a very frustrating game, and it takes an incredibly high level of tolerance to be able to stay confident playing golf.”
At the school, several new examples of hard-working players stand out. Samantha Hernandez, a sixth grader, seems to be making her way up the golf ladder, according to Young. Transfer Leo Oberbeck, a junior, is currently one of the top golfers in the state. With these players, the school has a promising future ahead of it.
As these athletes continue to devote time to golf, they overcome mental and physical challenges with every practice. So, next time you see golf on TV and think it’s just a game of swinging, think again.
