The women’s golf team has the minimum number of players on their team (four), despite being in one of the biggest golf communities in coastal NC.
Why it’s important: Brunswick County and its surrounding areas are notorious for their golf community and mass amount of money and resources thrown into it. There are tons of ways the youth can get involved whether it is for a competition or just entertainment.
Student participation is important for the school team, for if even one person doesn’t show up, the entire team gets penalized.
- “Say if three of my girls show up, and I don’t have a fourth player, they will get the max score for the round,” said men and womens golf coach Nick Dipasquale. “So for 18 holes, it’s triple bogey [three strokes above the par rating of a particular hole], so they would triple bogey each hole so that would give us the max score for the fourth player that’s not there. It kinda hurts not having that fourth player.”
According to ncbrunswick.com, there are 30+ golf courses in Brunswick County, not to mention a lot of the local entertainment is golf related; the surrounding areas are littered with mini golf courses as well as the very popular Topgolf.
The First Tee is a local golf program designed to teach kids golf at a young age in a safe and fun environment. Two of our players, Miranda Quinn-Schopf and Eve Feldman, were a part of this program. Here, kids can start as early as seven years old. On top of that, there are many nearby events the youth can participate in.
- “There’s a lot of amateur tournaments they can participate in here in NC and SC,” said Dipasquale. “We really encourage all players, all golfers to continue to play during the off season. Whether that’s going to the driving range, going on the putting green, or playing just nine holes just to get out there and play. “
Of the four players on the team, two are new to the sport. With this in mind, beating even one team is a big accomplishment. They are all learning and improving both on and off the golf course.
Golf isn’t just a set of physical skills, but mental skills as well.
- “It’s been a pleasure working with both teams and seeing them grow over the years and seeing how they can adapt to different situations on the golf course,” said Dipasquale. “Golf is a very mental game. At the end of the day, it’s you vs. yourself. So it takes a strong mentally well rounded person to play and these kids handle it really well.”
