Vaqs women’s golf win conference opener
With a trio of returners back from leading the Glendale Community College women’s golf team to a runner-up finish in the California Community College Athletic Assn. Women’s Golf Championship last season, Vaqueros Coach Greg Osbourne said expectations will remain high this season.
Osbourne couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the season after Glendale college finished first in a season-opening Western State Conference match and third in the 10-team South Coast Classic on Monday at Olivas Links Golf Course in Ventura. The conference match and classic ran simultaneously.
Glendale’s Thanawan Sriratchaya shot a two-over-par 74 to earn medalist honors in the conference portion of the tournament and help the Vaqueros finish with a 322. Irvine Valley won the invitational with a 309, followed by Palomar, which captured the state tournament last season, with a 319.
“What I’ve seen is our returners having stepped up and showing great improvement,” said Osbourne, who piloted the Vaqueros to the conference and Southern California Regional championships last season. “It’s absolutely fantastic, and they did it on a difficult course with the wind blowing.
“It’s not a bad way to start considering the fact we haven’t been together too much.”
The Vaqueros received a 78 from Pattraporn Silawanna, the conference’s reigning individual champion. They also got an 82 from sophomore Vicanda Ma and an 88 from freshman Jasmine Daniel, a Burroughs High graduate.
“I’m ecstatic with what Thanawan did, and she had a double-bogey early in her round,” said Osbourne, who also serves as the college’s men’s golf coach. “To start off like this is great, and, if we had a bad shot here or there, they would just keep plugging away.”
“Our goals are to get back to the regionals and state.”
In the conference portion of the tournament, College of the Canyons was second with a 339, followed by Santa Barbara City College (347), Bakersfield (356) and Citrus (438).
Glendale will next participate in the two-day Desert Classic, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Indian Canyons Golf Resort in Palm Springs.
