Troy girls golf coach Jerry Cowgill never saw the team’s success coming. He knew the Warriors had some talent, maybe more than any team he has ever assembled at the school.
Competing against the elite teams in the CIF-SS still seemed out of reach. With just a couple weeks left in the season, the Warriors finished seventh in the Walnut Tournament, which annually serves as a preview of what’s to come in the postseason since most of the Southern Section’s championship contenders are in the field.
Cowgill had the team’s top six players in the lineup, yet the Warriors still came up short.
“At that point, I started to think that we are just not with Walnut and the best teams,” Cowgill said.
But the Warriors teed off against Walnut four more times in the postseason, and the results produced the Warriors’ best season in school history and helped make Cowgill the Register’s Orange County girls golf coach of the year.
Troy beat Walnut twice. The first triumph delivered the CIF-SS Eastern Team Divsion Championship, and with the other victory came first place in the WSCGA Southern California Regional Championship.
“I asked the girls at our banquet, at what point did you start to believe that we belonged with Walnut and the elite teams?” Cowgill said. “They said when we beat them that second time (at the So Cal Championships).”
The Warriors left little doubt which team was the best team that day, finishing 17 strokes ahead of third-place Walnut.
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“We dominated them,” Cowgill said. “We dominated everybody. To know that from just below San Francisco on down, we were the best team, not just barely but by a lot of strokes, that was something I didn’t even dream of.”
Looking back now, there were signs that Troy had the makings of a standout team. All five of the Warriors’ scoring players posted a score of 76 or better at Jurupa Hills Country Club to help Troy finish 4-over-par and the CIF-SS Eastern Team Regional, the first team tournament of the postseason.
The Warriors were the only team in the 21-team field to break 360, shooting a 359. Walnut placed second, carding a 363.
The Warriors played in four postseason tournaments and never finished lower than fourth.
What elevated this Troy team, Cowgill said, was the play of senior Beth Lillie and two of the team’s freshmen, Sherilyn Villanueva and Isabel Sy.
Lillie finished the postseason with a 70.5 scoring average. Sy finished second at the So Cal Championships with a 2-under-par 70, and Villanueva carded an even-par 71 at the Eastern team regional.
Lillie had her own reasons for the Warriors’ success, saying it came down to their coach’s attitude.
“He is so supportive and encouraging and positive, and that is the best thing that you can be,” Lillie said. “You don’t need to be anything complicated to be a golf coach, but he has all of the important, solid stuff down.”
Contact the writer: ddottore@scng.com
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Troy’s Beth Lillie is the O.C. girls golfer of the year
