On Tuesday, two MLK Wolves resumed the hunt for advancement in CIF competition. Sarani Yapa and Sophia Llamas, after successfully qualifying for the CIF Southern Section Southern Regionals, returned to the South Course at Los Serranos Country Club for a highly competitive first round. Joined by 108 other golfers, fresh off the thrill of their own league successes, Sarani and Sophia faced the newest version of the difficult course amid a 40 degree temperature change throughout the day.

This weather change presents strategic challenges, more than just clothing changes. With morning temperatures hovering in the mid-fifties, players navigated adjusting for the thicker, misty air, which shortens the flight of their golf ball, wetter fairways, which reduces the roll-out of their shots, and dewy greens, which slows their putts. As the temperature quickly climbed within only an hour, players then had to adjust for the reverse of these conditions; further ball flight, longer roll-out, and faster putts became the new norm as the temperature reached its peak of 93 degrees. Golf continues to prove its uniqueness as a sport as one of the few that presents its challengers with changing conditions throughout the game.

Limited warm-up due to time and space constraints left our golfers feeling uncertain on the first tee, but they still gamely squared up against the course and the field of strong opponents. Each player experienced her fair share of ups and downs, but they finished strong. Sarani punctuated her +7 round of 81 with a pair of birdies, and Sophia sealed off her +14 round of 88 with a string of pars. With a staggering 15 golfers finishing the day at even par or better, these scores, unfortunately, did not qualify our girls for the next round of CIF. However, as their coach, I am very proud of their mental fortitude to end their rounds, and their individual seasons, so well. Golf is not a game of perfection; it’s a game of mis-hits and recoveries. These amazing young ladies had a few of the former, but many of the latter, and I hope that after the inevitable sting of defeat wears off, Sarani and Sophia can use this invaluable experience to help them grow their already-impressive games. I can’t wait to see how low (good) they can go from here.

The entire pack of Wolves will have their debut in team competition on Monday, November 3rd, when they travel to River Ridge Golf Club in Oxnard, CA, for Day 1 of the 2025 CIF-SS Ford Division 3 Girls Golf Team Championship.