Renfro, Shearer, Not Out of Practice

Can one simulate the pressure of a match in practice rounds?

Seniors Krystal Shearer of Alemany High and Courtney Renfro of Crescenta Valley will find out Nov. 16 in the Southern Section girls’ individual golf championship at Mission Lakes Country Club in Desert Hot Springs.

Shearer, who placed third in the section championship last year after tying for first with a two-under-par 70 in regulation play, is regarded as a title contender again.

Renfro, who shot an 81 in the section final, is a potential top-10 finisher. Both played little competitive golf in the last two months because they chose to play on their school’s boys’ team in the spring.

CIF rules prohibit a golfer from competing on a school’s boys’ and girls’ teams in the same school year, so players such as Shearer and Renfro have had to hone their skills at driving ranges, on putting greens or during practice rounds in the first nine weeks of the girls’ season. The boys’ season is contested during the spring.

“You have to pretend that you’re in a tournament when you’re out there,” Shearer said of her frequent rounds at Braemar Country Club in Tarzana, where she’s a member and employee. “It’s not easy, but you have to focus like you’re in a tournament.”

Renfro said she has played more practice rounds at Altadena Golf Course this year in an effort to make up for the lack of competition.

“I don’t get to play in any tournaments so I play every day by myself,” she said. “I’m getting out more on the course this year, instead of just going to the practice range or the putting green.”

Shearer and Renfro could be at a disadvantage in the section final because of their recent lack of competition, but neither regrets deciding to play on the boys’ team.

“I have a lot of things I want to accomplish in my career,” said Shearer, who has committed to UCLA. “I want to be in the top 10 in the [Pacific 10 Conference] championships as a freshman and I want to go pro after college, so playing against the guys is better for me.”

Renfro, who also has aspirations of playing in college, expressed similar sentiments.

“There’s better competition,” she said of playing on the boys’ team. “Way better. That’s why I play.”

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The top 50 finishers in the Southern Section individual championship will advance to the CIF-Women’s Southern California Golf Assn. tournament at the SCGA Members’ Club in Murrieta on Nov. 30.

The top golfers from the Southern, City, San Diego and Central sections traditionally play in that tournament, but this is the first year that the competition will be held during the girls’ season.

In previous years, the tournament was held at the end of the boys’ season in June, several months after the girls’ section final.

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Harvard-Westlake, Hart and La Reina head the list of teams from the region in the Southern Section North Regional at Santa Barbara Golf Club on Monday.

The top five teams from each of three regionals being played Monday or Tuesday will advance to the section championship at Temeku Golf Course on Nov. 15 in Temecula.

Nearly all of the region’s top teams will play in the North Regional, which is comprised of schools from the Channel, Foothill, Golden, Marmonte, Mission, Pacific View and Tri-Valley leagues.

Tri-Valley champion La Reina, ranked third by The Times, is led by seniors Jennifer Marshall and Susanne Dunwell.

Ina Kim leads Mission League champion Harvard-Westlake (18-0), which is ranked No. 1, and Sara Jones leads No. 2 Hart (36-0).

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The Top 5

Rankings of top girls’ golf teams in region

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RK School (League) 1 Harvard-Westlake (Mission) 2 Hart (Foothill) 3 La Reina (Tri-Valley) 4 Nordhoff (Tri-Valley) 5 Chaminade (Mission)

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