GIRLS’ GOLF PREVIEW : Harvard-Westlake Looks to Tee Off on Competition

Things are getting serious for the Harvard-Westlake High girls’ golf team.

The Wolverines placed third in the inaugural Southern Section girls’ championships last year and returning players such as junior Ina Kim and sophomore Emma Stachowicz want to accomplish more this season.

“We want to win [the Mission League title] again and [the section championships] too,” Stachowicz said. “We’re more serious this year. We’re more focused on our goals. We’re having a lot more practices together, whereas last year we rarely got together for practices. We usually got together only for the matches.”

Kim, the medalist in the section team championships, Stachowicz and sophomore Kathryne Cooper were Harvard-Westlake’s top three players last year and will be seeded in that order when the Wolverines open the season against Louisville at Woodland Hills Country Club on Tuesday.

Junior Susan Shin, who didn’t play last year because of other commitments, will be Harvard-Westlake’s No. 4 player against Louisville and sophomore Eunice Lee will be the Wolverines’ fourth player against Alemany at El Cariso Golf Course on Thursday.

“Susan and Eunice are pretty evenly matched,” Coach Kanwaljit Kochar said. “I want to give both of them a chance to play in the No. 4 spot.”

While Shin and Lee will battle for the fourth spot, Kim is expected to be the team’s top player throughout the season.

Kim, who shot a 76 to Stachowicz’ 92 and Cooper’s 98 at the section championships, is ranked No. 39 among juniors by Golfweek-Titleist and will play for the United States against Europe at the New Seabury (Mass.) Country Club on Sept. 21-22.

Like Stachowicz, Kim also wants to win the section team title, but Kochar doesn’t want his team assuming a winning-is-everything attitude.

“I’d like the team to obviously do well,” Kochar said. “But I also want to have fun. That’s my main goal.”

Other teams to watch:

La Reina--Senior Jennifer Marshall, who qualified for the CIF-Women’s Southern California Golf Assn. championships at Murrieta in June, is expected to lead a team that won the Tri-Valley League title and placed 11th in the section Northern regional last season.

Seniors Susanne Dunwell and Tralee O’Hanlon and junior Anne Neumayr are expected to round out the top four for the Regents.

La Reina will play in a revamped Tri-Valley along with Nordhoff, Carpinteria and newcomer Lompoc.

Santa Barbara, San Marcos and Dos Pueblos, Tri-Valley members last year, have joined Santa Ynez and Righetti to form the Channel League.

Newbury Park--Sophomore Julie McKenna, who was the No. 5 finisher from the region in the CIF-WSCGA championships, will lead a team that placed ninth in the section Northern Regional last year.

Seniors Joanna Burnett and April Hull and junior Tia D’Ambrosia are expected to round out the top four for the Panthers.

Hart--The Indians are fielding a team for the first time, but it could be a powerful one if they can come up with a solid No. 3 player.

Sophomore Sara Jones and senior Alexis Arnold were among the region’s top players in theCIF-WSCGA championships.

Jones tied for ninth with a four-over-par 76 and was the region’s No. 2 finisher. Arnold was the No. 8 finisher from the region with an 86.

Nordhoff--Senior Beth Allen, junior Melody Shedlosky and sophomore Lauren Gesselman are the top three players on a squad that finished third in the Tri-Valley finals and 12th in the section Northern Regional.

Allen averaged about 40 strokes per nine holes, Coach Dick Sebek said.

Thousand Oaks--Junior Rebecca Norris, an All-Marmonte League selection last year, and sophomore Nicole Hayashi return from a team that finished seventh in the section Northern Regional.

Junior Michelle Spencer, the starting catcher on the Lancers’ league champion softball team, could develop into Thousand Oaks’ No. 3 player, Coach Richard Hanger said.