Golfers
win but
it's not easy
The girls’ high school golf season finally got underway last week.
That was both the good news and the bad news.
The Woodstock Academy Centaurs may have won two of their first three matches, but it was hardly easy.
“Not good,” Woodstock Academy coach Earl Semmelrock said of the results of the matches. “With all the bad weather, we had limited time to get on the course and practice. The high scores in the first two matches reflect that fact. You can’t expect to just show up on the course and play well. No amount of time hitting balls into a net indoors or putting on a carpet prepares you for the conditions you will see on the course.”
The Centaurs downed East Lyme 234-263 on Monday at the Old Lyme Country Club and followed that up with a 199-265 loss to Glastonbury at the Glastonbury Hills Country Club April 24.
The total against Glastonbury was the highest that Semmelrock had seen in his five years as head coach of the Centaurs.
“Many of the returning girls are getting frustrated because their scores are much higher than they ever posted,” Semmelrock said.
What the team needs now is practice.
What the team probably won’t get any time soon is practice as matches are now bunched pretty closely together and any more foul weather just packs it in even tighter.
“No practice time on the course does not allow for player improvement,” said Semmelrock. “With 3 matches each in the next 3 weeks, it will be the same story. If the weather (held early this week)and we don’t have to postpone any of those matches, our first real practice will be Wednesday. After (last Thursday’s) match, we spoke about that. They definitely are looking forward to practice time at the course.”
Things did get a little better during the April 26 match at Quinnatisset Country Club in Thompson.
On their first match on the home course, the Centaurs downed the Wildcats, 222-243.
Caroline Eaton, as she has in each of the first three matches, led the way for The Academy with a 51.
But even the senior had it a bit rough early, averaging a 57 in her first three matches.
“She is the team leader and the girls all look up to her. She had been somewhat frustrated by her scores in the first  matches but (Thursday) rebounded with a nice round despite one really bad hole. She knows that if she can post a good score it sets the tone and gives us a head start to having a good team score. She did that (Thursday) and the team responded with their best score of the year - a 41 shot improvement over the (score in Glastonbury),” Semmelrock said.
Katherine Harrington added her best of the year against the Wildcats as well. She carded a 55.
Linda St. Laurent shot a 58 against East Lyme. Avery Jones (57) and Alex Vaida (59) also broke 60 against NFA.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director