Calmer Approach Helps Allen Navigate This Course

Of the 50 girls from the Southern Section who advanced to the CIF-Women’s Southern California Golf Assn. championships at The Members’ Club in Murrieta next Tuesday, none might be more appreciative than Beth Allen of Nordhoff High.

Allen, a senior, shot five-over par 77 to tie for 10th in the Southern Section individual championships at Mission Lakes Country Club in Desert Hot Springs on Nov. 16. Last year, she shot an 88 on the same course to finish 51st, one place shy of advancing to the CIF-WSCGA tournament.

“I tried really hard to put that behind me,” Allen said. “But I couldn’t completely. It was hard not to think about it, but some of the things I learned last year really helped me this year.”

Things like taking her time with each shot and staying relaxed.

“I just tried way too hard last year,” Allen said. “I wanted to play so well that it caused a lot of pressure.”

Allen’s ability to remain calm was put to an early test in the section final. She had a par, three bogeys and a double-bogey on the first five holes.

“I really wasn’t that upset,” she said. “Because I wasn’t making bad shots. I actually made some good shots for the bogeys.”

Bouncing back from a slow start isn’t unusual for Allen.

She trailed Jennifer Marshall of La Reina by a stroke after the first round of the Tri-Valley League individual championships earlier this month. She opened the second--and final--round with a triple-bogey and a bogey before winning her second consecutive league title by seven strokes.

Not bad for someone who has been playing competitive golf for less than two years.

Allen grew up playing basketball, although her father was a club professional at Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai for 35 years.

She was a member of Nordhoff’s varsity girls’ basketball team as a freshman and sophomore and was a starting guard on the 1997-98 team that was 22-7 and advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Section Division III-AA playoffs.

But at 5-foot-4 with average quickness, Allen realized her chances of earning a college scholarship were slim.

She took up golf in the spring of last year playing for the boys’ junior varsity at Nordhoff. Allen became hooked on the game and then girls’ golf was officially sanctioned as a fall sport by the Southern Section.

“Giving up basketball was hard,” Allen said. “But then I really started getting competitive in golf and I just kind of forgot about basketball.”

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Sara Jones of Hart tries to redeem herself in the CIF-WSCGA championships after disappointing rounds in the Southern Section team and individual tournaments.

Jones, a sophomore, was the No. 2 golfer in the region behind Ina Kim of Harvard-Westlake during the regular season, but she shot a 12-over-par 84 in the team championships at Temeku Hills Golf Course in Temecula on Nov. 15 and an 85 in the individual tournament the next day.

The 85 left her in a six-way tie for the 50th--and final--qualifying spot, but she advanced to the CIF-WSCGA tournament by winning the sudden-death playoff with a par on the first playoff hole.

“I think she just had two off days,” Coach Renee Onori of Hart said. “She wasn’t injured and I couldn’t see anything in her swing or anything like that.”

Jones, who shot a four-over-par 76 to tie for ninth in the CIF-WSCGA tournament as a freshman in June, was at even par after five holes but played 13 over after that in the individual final.

“I watched her for the first five holes and she looked fine,” Onori said. “I remember thinking, ‘OK. She’s over yesterday.’ ”

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The Top 5

Rankings of region girls’ golf teams

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

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