Home definitely isn’t where the low scores are for the Beckman girls golf team.
Some of their worst rounds of the season so far have come at Tustin Ranch Golf Club, a place where they practice just about every day.
On Wednesday, the No. 2 Patriots barely broke 200 there in beating Pacific Coast League rival Corona del Mar, 197-233. A 197 is still a respectable score, but far from the best that Beckman (5-1, 3-0) can do. Three times the Patriots have been in the 180s. Each time it happened on the road, coming at Coto de Caza Country Club, Strawberry Farms Golf Course and Oak Creek Golf Club.
The Patriots are averaging around a 197 at Tustin Ranch. Compare that to the 185.6 nine-hole stroke average they have elsewhere.
It all comes down to the two par 3s on the the front nine at Tustin Ranch, Beckman sophomore Cameron Lee said. They play about 50 yards longer than at Strawberry Farms, for example. That could account for a two stroke difference for some girls on the team, Lee said.
“They could easily get on from a 100 yards but struggle here. They hit it in a bunker and take a shot or two to get out,” Lee said.
Lee led the Patriots, shooting a 1-over-par 37 and shared medalist honors with Corona del Mar’s Alyaa Abdulghany.
Corona del Mar coach Mike Starkweather said the No. 6 Sea Kings (4-2, 0-2) are struggling right now, having to play without, Amy Matsuoka, an AJGA tournament winner who has decided to concentrate on her school work during her junior year.
“We could have two of the best players in the county,” he said. The other is Abdulghany, who is 22nd in the Golfweek rankings. “That is rather devastating. But what can you do?”
