Menlo won a low-scoring affair Wednesday against rival Harker. Photo by Trish Inguagiato.

By Eva Herr

By only 3 strokes, the girl’s golf team took down Harker in a tough match on September 6th. With Harker being one of the best teams in the league, the Lady Knights had impressive rounds to outscore them. “The team really rallied today. Harker is a great opponent with a lot of depth and we came together well especially in the 5 and 6 spots to win,” senior Sophie Siminoff said.

Menlo’s familiarity with its home course, the Palo Alto Hills course, helped significantly. “We know the course well so we cut over trees and ponds which really shortened the course for us,” sophomore Gianna Inguagiato said. Although Inguagiato is an underclassman she shot a 38, only 2 over par, which was the second best score on the team behind Siminoff who shot a 33. She is also a team captain along with fellow sophomore, Sulwen Ma.

Along with their success on the course, the Lady Knights felt the team bonded from the tough competition. “It was our best match of the season, the teamed seemed to gel and every player was equally important to our win,” Inguagiato said. “Our unity as a team contributed to a great round for everyone today,” sophomore Vikki Xu, one of the team’s key players and academic liaison, said.

Surprisingly, the majority of the team is underclassmen. In the top 6 starting spots, there are 3 sophomores and 2 freshmen, twins Marena and Vivian Herr. “Our underclassmen are showing great leadership this early in the season and I’m excited to see them develop,” Siminoff said.

With such a young team there is no doubt the program has an exciting couple of year ahead of it. “I’m looking forward to the matches ahead of us and playing golf with these girls for the next four years,” Vivian Herr said.