Northwood’s Girls Golf team finished their season as back-to-back undefeated league champions, nearly breaking existing school records for the sport. On Oct. 26, Freshman Bridget Chantharath qualified for CIF Individual Finals.

“Our girls have always been great teammates, but now they have the skill and that translates to more wins. We shot the second lowest team score in school history at 186,” Girls Golf coach Zach Halop said. “I think we can go even lower.”

Trying to get a low score may sound unusual, but those familiar with the sport understand that achieving a low score is the golfer’s goal.

Players attempt to hit the ball into the hole with the least number of strokes, or hits, as possible. The incredible performance of this year’s team is no coincidence. The team shows a remarkable amount of team spirit, supporting each other through games and motivating each other to do their best.

“The top players of the team have inspired everyone to spend their leisure time on the course and driving range for more intensive practices than ever,” co-captain junior Shani Lin said. “And before matches, our phones are always flooded with encouraging messages!”

Of course, with spectacular scores comes remarkable moments for the team as well. After many attempts, the team was thrilled to finally break their 190-point objective during a match at Oak Creek. Despite reaching their goal for the season, the golfers continued to show their dedication to the sport.

“We could’ve been lax and slacked off, but we were dedicated and practiced hard and performed as well as we could,” sophomore Jia An said. “We then broke 190 for a second time, and everyone broke 40, which is an astounding feat.”

Undoubtedly, this year’s team is incredibly skilled. New recruits to this year’s team have great amounts of skill when they step up to the tee.

“Three different girls, Bridget Chantharath, Jia An and Shivali Shrivastava, shot under par,” Halop said. “Bridget even tied the school record of 31 as a freshman. Unreal.”

Coming off of their undefeated season, Girls Golf hopes to do well at CIF, which takes place in late October and goes into early November. Future teams could do well to learn from their inspiring team camaraderie, their skills from persistent practice and the passion all of the girls have for golf.

“We have a team that is special both in ability and character, and can legitimately compete at a high level,” Halop said. “I want to see where that ceiling is. If our girls play to their capability, I think the ceiling is unlimited.”