Vaqueros suffer first hiccup
Going undefeated in the Western State Conference was a goal set by the members of the Glendale Community College women’s golf team before the season started. Though the Vaqueros knew it wouldn’t be easy to achieve, they figured there might be the potential for at least one pitfall.
Unfortunately for Glendale, which won the conference championship last season for the first time in the program’s history, it encountered that snag Monday and saw their objective vanish.
Glendale received a seven-over-par 78 from Thanawan Sriratchaya and it finished second behind College of the Canyons in a conference match at Stockdale Country Club in Bakersfield. Canyons shot a 325, followed by Glendale at 334.
For Glendale Coach Greg Osbourne, whose team won the Southern California Regional title and finished runner-up in the California Community College Athletic Assn. Women’s Golf Championship last season, the loss came at a time in which he regretted not taking the Vaqueros to the venue for a practice round Sunday.
“None of them had ever played this course before,” said Osbourne, whose team won the season’s first three conference matches. “We should have gone up there, but we couldn’t for different reasons.
“It’s tough to accept coming in second right now. To go up there and shoot these scores is hard. I thought the course was easy, but we needed to be able to come through. Nine strokes is way too many, and they feel bad about it.”
Pattraporn Silawanna, the conference’s reigning individual champion, finished with an 82. Vicanda Ma had an 85 for the Vaqueros, who received an 89 from Jasmine Daniel. Kristen Grimes of Canyons shot a 72 to earn medalist honors.
Bakersfield placed third with a 341, followed by Santa Barbara (349) and Citrus (432).
Osbourne said he’s eager to find out how the Vaqueros will regroup.
“Maybe we were destined to get beat,” said Osbourne, who also serves as the college’s men’s golf coach. “We have to be able to try to learn from what happened.
“What’s disappointing is that we didn’t go out and get beat. We beat ourselves. Now, we have to be able to fight through this.”
Glendale will next participate in the two-day North-South Invitational. The event will be conducted Sunday and Monday in Morro Bay. The next conference match will take place at 10 a.m. Oct. 8 at Simi Hills Golf Course in Simi Valley.
