Yumi Kimura chips on to the third green during her match Thursday afternoon against Presentation. Earlier this week, Kimura shot a 56 against Live Oak.
The game of golf is difficult enough. But when you couple it with an opponent that is arguably the top team in the Central Coast Section, well, you'd better bring your 'A' game.
The San Benito girls golf team welcomed Presentation to the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club on Thursday, and although the visiting San Jose powerhouse delivered a 173-202 victory, the youthful Lady 'Balers were able to score some points in the experience department.
"Across the board, I thought the girls learned a ton today," coach Chris Branon said. "I heard them say they all need to work on their chipping and putting."
Lady 'Baler Jordan Davies may be able to provide some pointers, too. On No. 18, Davies sunk a 30-foot putt to birdie the final hole and card a team-low 45 on Thursday.
"I was a little more focused and laid back," Davies said. "We've never played them and we heard they were super-hard. I was just trying to have fun today and whatever you shoot, you shoot."
Davies' 45 was one stroke better than her previous season low of 46.
The two teams played on the old back nine, which is holes 1 through 6 and 16, 17 and 18 of the Diablo Course.
"It wasn't an easy day. It was windy," Branon said. "But I thought they played well."
Presentation is anchored by a trio of golfers, including Mariko Tumangan, Mikell Zanotto and Lauren Salazar. Although Salazar was not present for the match, her team still managed to sit comfortably ahead of San Benito after Tumangan medaled the round with a 39.
Tumangan, a sophomore, finished tied for second place overall last season in the CCS tournament.
"They were good. They were so good," said Lady 'Baler Jenny Glosser, who was celebrating her 16th birthday on Thursday. "Their No. 1 (Tumangan), she said she was having a bad day and I was shocked. She was playing so good.
"I thought I played good. I got some good pars, but a couple of eights and nines kind of balanced things off."
Glosser finished with a 51. She said she was nervous coming into the match, but did pick up a few tips along the way.
"I learned that you can't get intimidated because they make mistakes, too," Glosser said. "But they get past them. You can't worry about a bad shot. You need to just keep going on."
Nicole Rianda shot a 52 while Lady 'Balers Yumi Kimura and Katie Moeller each carded 54s for San Benito. Kendall Archer rounded out Hollister with a 57.
For Presentation, Zanotto's 41 was second on the team, while Alessandra Cain shot a 46, Brenna Donnelly a 47, and Swetha Prabhakaran rounded out the scoring with a 50. Kelly Quinn recorded a 53.
San Benito will visit Everett Alvarez on Tuesday, and will play Presentation again at the Almaden Country Club on Oct. 21.
Andrew Matheson Andrew Matheson is a sports writer for South Valley Newspapers. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 334 or at amatheson@svnewspapers.com.
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