One shot better
While Glendale Community College women’s golf Coach Greg Osbourne remains proud of what the Vaqueros accomplished last season — a season of firsts that included winning the Western State Conference and Southern California Regional titles and an appearance in the California Community College Athletic Assn. Women’s Golf Championship — he still has a tough time accepting the Vaqueros fell one stroke short in the state tournament.
“It’s tough to lose any time by one shot, but that’s golf,” said Osbourne, whose team lost on the final hole of the 36-hole tournament against Palomar at Kings Country Club in Hanford. “There’s been times where I haven’t slept well, but somebody has got to win and lose in this game.
“We should have won, but we gave it away. All you can do is try to bounce back and be better. I think we will.”
The Vaqueros, who will begin their season at 10 a.m. today in the South Coast Classic at Buenaventura Golf Course in Ventura, will have three key returners looking to solidify their lineup in Pattraporn Silawanna, Thanawan Sriratchaya and Vicanda Ma. Silawanna won the conference’s individual championship last season and was named the conference’s player of the year after finishing with a season-scoring average of 76. Ma finished fourth in scoring average with a 77.29 and Sriratchaya was sixth (78.14).
Osbourne, who is also a PGA pro and the head pro at Chevy Chase Country Club in Glendale, said he’s confident the trio can help keep the Vaqueros in contention for the conference championship season.
“You are talking about three of the best players in the state,” said Osbourne, who also serves as the college’s men’s golf coach. “These are three people who are either All-American, all-conference or all-region and they are willing to put it on the line all the time because they are constantly motivated.
“I know that they are out there trying to get better by working on all parts of their game. They also have the talent to move on and help out a [four-year] college.”
Ma said there’s plenty of motivation this season.
“The goals are going to be exactly the same as last year,” Ma said. “We were so close last year and we want to go out there and keep winning.
“We have to be able as a team to go out there and think about each hole and individual shot.”
Joining Ma, Silawanna and Sriratchaya will be freshmen Jasmine Daniel, a Burroughs High graduate, Chardae Hudson from Van Nuys High and Fanny Ostlund of Sweden.
“We are very excited about all those three joining our team,” said Osbourne, a former Glendale college golfer and All-American at California Lutheran University. “I feel like they can make us even stronger and we are excited to see their potential.”
Osbourne said he expects the conference to once again be a challenge.
“From what I’m hearing, all of the teams are filled and all of them should be strong,” said Osbourne, whose team will host a conference match at 10 a.m. Oct. 15 at Chevy Chase. “If we can win conference again, that would be fantastic and amazing.
“I think we will just go out there and have a blast.”
The Vaqueros will participate in their first conference match at 10 a.m. Monday at Olivas Links Golf Course in Ventura.
The conference finals are scheduled to be held Oct. 28-29 at Bakersfield’s Sundale Country Club and Kern River Golf Course, respectively.
