ANAHEIM HILLS – An Internet shopping spree funded by an LPGA tour player gave a glimpse into the potential power of Canyon’s girls golf team.
During an AJGA tournament in Gold Canyon, Ariz., Vicky Hurst, who was hosting the event, challenged the three junior players in her foursome to a long-drive contest. An iTunes gift card was waiting for anyone who could outmuscle her down the fairway.
Quite a lofty goal indeed, considering Hurst is the longest hitter in the LPGA tour this year.
Two holes after the contest began, though, Canyon sophomore Jessica Vasilic blasted a tee shot some 30 yards past Hurst’s. Time to go shopping.
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Vasilic, who returns to lead the No. 1 girls golf team in the county this season, didn’t just get lucky. When she hits the ball pure, she’s got a chance to drive the green on a 300-yard par 4. Her average drive is 260 yards.
“It gave me a good look at what is ahead of me,” Vasilic said. “I want to one day go on the tour, so it lets me see what is out there and what to expect. I am excited about it.”
And she’s looking forward to the girls golf season, too, saying the Comanches have a good chance of winning the CIF state championship. That’s definitely within their reach.
Last year, a team comprised mostly of freshman and sophomores, won the CIF-SS Southern Team Regional, and came within three strokes of advancing to the state qualifying tournament in Murrieta, finishing fifth at the CIF team championship at Mountain Meadows Golf Course. Vasilic posted the lowest score at the latter tournament in Pomona, shooting a 3-under 69.
“We had a good team last year. As a team we expected too much,” Vasilic said. “And I think we got too confident and when you do that, you can’t execute. It was very disappointing. But this year I just don’t think we will make it to state. We have got a chance to win it.”
Vasilic and her sophomore teammate Elisabeth Bernabe have turned in some impressive results this summer, too. Vasilic has finished in the top 10 in two of the three AJGA tournaments she has entered since June, and Bernabe tied for seventh in the stroke-play portion of the USGA girls junior amateur to qualify for the match-play portion of the event. She advanced to the Round of 16 before losing to Doris Chen, the eventual champion.
“When I stepped onto the course for the first time (for practice for high school), I was telling myself, ‘Yeah, I am ready. Let’s do this,'” said Bernabe, the Century League MVP last season. “The (USGA) girls tournament was kind of intimidating. There were a lot of girls there. But I just played my own game. And I got top 16, so I was very happy.”
Bernabe, too, feels this team can make a run at state, returning all but one of the players from last year’s team. Raegan Bremer and Shyla Walson will tee it up once again for the Comanches, and both, Vasilic said, can shoot under par.
The Comanches do, however, have a new coach. Amber Petruzzelli, a teaching and club professional at Mesa Verde Country Club, has replaced Jan McKendrick. And Petruzzelli is already shaking things up, mixing in some interesting new training techniques. And not all of them involve golf clubs.
“She wants us to do some yoga,” Bernabe said.
It will help them in increase their flexibility, Petruzzelli said.
“And it is also good for them to do something as a team outside of on the golf course,” she said. “This team … is a pretty awesome group of girls.”
