SPORTS
Flying under the radar: Girls golf hunts first state title
By Matt Bowling
Despite lack of attention, upstart Chargers look to make history.
You might call them "the team Providence Day forgot'" but it would be decidedly more accurate to say that the girls golf program is turning out to be a diamond in the rough. In just six seasons, the Chargers have gone from a struggling new team to CISAA conference champions, in no small part due to the expertise of head coach Linda Jochim. Jochim, a Class A member of the LPGA, began her tenure with Providence Day in 2011. That year, she took the team from last in the conference to third in the state, earning her Coach of the Year honors from the South Charlotte Weekly. This season, the Chargers finished the regular season 10-4 and placed second in the CISAA.
Leading the way for the Chargers will be the team’s two seniors, Roshnee Sharma and Rea Madan. Sharma, who finished as the individual runner-up in last year’s state championship match, has medaled (put up the lowest score out of all players from each school) in three matches so far and been Providence Day’s leading scorer in two others. Madan, whose greatest advantage is her long game, has been among the top three scorers for Providence Day in every match this season, and her experience dealing with nerves has proved invaluable to younger players. “Before every match, I gather up the team and help give them a pep talk before we tee off,” she said. “Nerves are often the biggest mental challenge, so with my experience, I help the underclassmen feel more comfortable.”
If they are more comfortable, it’s definitely showing. The team’s three freshman, Rhea Bhagia, Kaela McConnell, and Clare Steigerwalt, have been putting up scores not much higher than those of their older teammates. Bhagia has even medaled once this year, and her and McConnell were both top three scorers for Providence Day in their last two matches. Assistant coach Mike Lindquist called the performance of these three “a pleasant surprise.”
“They’re contributing to our victories,” he said. “We’ve got a good setup for the future [with them on the team].”
Making up the bulk of this year’s team is the junior class, which lists Reilly Alridge, Alexandra Grossman, and Cara Mischinski as active players. Taylor Steiner, who played for the Chargers in 2014, sustained a serious knee injury while with the JV soccer team last spring and remains on injured reserve.
Battling the Rule Benders
Even with the talent on their roster, the Chargers’ road to a state championship will be more than a little rocky. They’ll have to compete with a traditional rival in Charlotte Latin as well as a newly resurgent Greensboro Day, and that’s before they get to think about taking down four-time defending champion Cannon, who is responsible for two of Providence Day’s losses so far.
One of those wins, however, may have had as much to do with Cannon’s use of gamesmanship as it did their players’ skill.
At the high school level, every team has a “home course," usually a nearby country club, at which they practice and play a share of their matches. As the players spend a great deal of their time on these courses, they become highly familiar with the terrain. Since there are no course maps provided for matches, sportsmanship dictates that the “home” team share basic course knowledge (hazards, boundaries, etc) with visiting opponents prior to teeing off. When the Chargers visited Cannon’s home course at River Run Country Club on September 22, Lindquist hinted that the Cougars may not have been completely straightforward with their general knowledge. “We basically had some really great shots that ended up hitting into hazards we didn’t know were there,” he said.
Cannon won that match by six strokes. Nine days later, the roles were reversed, and the teams played at Cedarwood Country Club, Providence Day’s home course. The result was noticeably closer, as the Cougars narrowly escaped with a one stroke victory. Luckily for the Chargers, the state championship match will be played at a neutral site (Salisbury Country Club), which greatly reduces the potential for shady dealings by their opponents.
No Fans, No Problem
Despite having risen to become one of the school’s most successful fall teams, the girls golf program remains one of the least recognized. While few would blame the girls for being put off by the lack of support, Lindquist says they harbor no resentment toward Charger fans.
“I don’t think anybody on the team is upset that we’re flying under the radar,” he said, even going so far as to take partial responsibility for his team’s lack of exposure.“We haven’t advertised ourselves well. We haven’t made any announcements in assembly about our victories, so that’s part of the issue.” Lindquist went on to add that another disadvantage when it comes to getting attention for girls golf is the nature of the sport itself. “Golf is a very individual sport...It’s not a spectator sport. You can’t go make an announcement and say ‘Hey, everybody, come set aside four hours of your day to watch us play golf, and you can’t cheer.’”
In addition, golf is one of three Providence Day athletic programs that never competes on campus, which is a huge setback when it comes to attracting fans.
Regardless of all these things, the amount of coverage and attention given to girls golf has been extraordinarily low for a conference champion with a legitimate shot at a state title. In some ways, they really are “the team Providence Day forgot.”
However, if they can shake off their pursuers and raise a banner of their own to the rafters of the Mosack Athletic Center, the Charger girls golf team won’t be forgotten much longer.
"We basically had some really great shots that ended up hitting into hazards we didn't know were there."
– Mike Lindquist
"Golf is a very individual sport...It's not a spectator sport"
– Mike Lindquist
Rhea Bhagia tees off for the Chargers.
Photo courtesy of Mike Lindquist.
Clare Steigerwalt practices her putting.
Photo courtesy of Mike Lindquist