SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Getting to the golf course is never guaranteed when you live in bear country. One of the South Tahoe High School girls golf team members found that out the hard way when she stepped into her garage on the morning of June 1 and discovered her golf bag was gone…dragged down the street by a bear, clubs scattered along the pavement like a trail of breadcrumbs. The golf bag is nowhere to be seen. She showed up anyway, arms full of clubs, ready to go. If that’s not a Tahoe-style golf story, then I don’t know what is.
Coach Doug Russell loaded seven girls into the Suburban and headed down to Empire Ranch Golf Club in Carson City for Nevada Women’s Golf Day, a global event designed to get more women and girls onto the course. The trip was made possible by the STHS Athletic Department, which continues to find opportunities that take these girls beyond the fairways of South Lake Tahoe. The South Tahoe Women’s Golf Team was the only high school group there, surrounded by adult women golfers from across the region.
The day was set up with stations covering everything from driving to putting to pitching, led by PGA and LPGA-level coaches. Whether a girl had been swinging a club for years or was still figuring out her grip, there was something for her.
They came home talking about what they learned and excited about golf, which is the most important part. They also came home with free hats, full stomachs from a complimentary clubhouse lunch, and at least a few of them are already eyeing a six-week summer clinic being offered by one of the coaches there.
“This event was yet another example of the golf community as a whole, Lake Tahoe Golf Course, Tahoe Paradise Golf Course, and the STHS Athletic Department included, supporting STHS Women’s Golf,” said Coach Russell. “We are thankful and excited for next season.”
South Tahoe girls’ golf is on the rise. And one golf bag is on the loose.
-Erika Mathews, South Tahoe High CTE Specialist
