By Chris Munzing
Not sure how to start a high school sports team? Turns out you just have to ask. Girls in Linda Trusz's science research class approached her about starting a team. "I said sure, and then they started pleading with [Athletic Director Arnold Epstein]," said Trusz, who admitted that she carries a single-digit handicap. "He put through all the paperwork for us, and that was it: We are a fully accredited team."
The girls are mostly juniors, with two seniors and one freshman filling out the roster. Many of them were members of the tennis team last fall.
The lone member of the team who has played golf before is junior Rachel Price, who played with the boys' team last year.
Not having to play with boys was part of the motivation behind starting a girls' team. "If we played with the boys, none of us would ever get to play," said junior Jessica Lake. "The boys are really good."
Starting up a golf team with only one golfer, however, is not easy, Trusz said, adding that most practice time is spent working on the fundamentals - and the etiquette - of the game. "Most of these girls have never been on a golf course," Trusz said. "I'm taking them out with me, three at a time, to play nine holes. It's just so I can play with them and walk them through the etiquette and techniques, so they won't be nervous on the course."
Trusz said that she is confident in her team's ability because of one factor: they listen. "It's so much easier to teach someone who listens," she said. "If you can listen, then you can play golf."
"We're being told constantly that we're bad," said junior Jacki Lewy. "But Ms. Trusz said that by the end of the year, our status as golfers will double."
"We're very beginner," Lake said. "But most of us played on the tennis team. So golf is similar because it's an individual sport. We can beat ourselves up. But the goal is to come out of this better golfers."
The girls aren't exactly golf nuts. Only junior Stephanie Lefkowitz said she had ever seen a golf match on television, and none of those interviewed had heard of Michelle Wie, the 15-year-old amateur sensation who has been playing in LPGA Tour events since she was 13. They all claimed, however, to know who Tiger Woods is. It's a start.
Long Beach will compete against nine other schools in Nassau County: Friends Academy, Garden City, Roslyn, Jericho, Sewanhaka, Lynbrook, Plainview JFK, Syosset and Cold Spring Harbor. Trusz said that the Lady Marines will have their hands full with schools near country clubs, like Garden City. "Most of the girls on the Garden City team have parents that belong to the club," she said. "They know how to play, they know the game. They've grown up around the game. Our girls don't have that kind of experience."
Luckily, the girls will face Garden City at the Lido Golf Course, where Long Beach will play its home matches. They'll be spared the Garden City Country Club's 606-yard 11th hole, though the notorious South Shore winds at Lido will prove to be a difficult home-field advantage to master.
Each golfer has her own clubs and a golf bag emblazoned with the school logo. The team is currently selling candy to raise money for new uniforms and golf shoes. "If we're not going to win, we might as well look good," Lewy said.
The girls believe, however, that this is the start of something big for Long Beach. "You have to give it a couple of years to really catch on," Lefkowitz said. "Once it catches on with other kids, the team will get better."
Lake said that she and her teammates aren't worried about country club kids or the strong golf schools from the North Shore, because it's nothing they haven't dealt with before. "It's the same thing with tennis," she said. "The North Shore kids all have tennis courts in their backyards. But we've proven we can play tennis with them."
And Lefkowitz said that she and her teammates are already making great strides. "When you swing and hit the ball dead on, it feels really good," she said. "It makes that 'ping' sound."
On May 2, the girls will play Jericho High School on the road at Cedar Brook Country Club, which is notable because that course boasts Nassau County's only woman head golf pro, June Stanton. Stanton said she was happy Long Beach was joining the league, but warned that learning golf can be a humbling experience. She said that she has seen a spike in the number of young women seeking golf lessons, particularly in the past few years, and that teaching girls golf is a unique, rewarding experience.
"Girls are more detailed in their practice, but it depends on the individual student," Stanton said. "But there is no real difference in their confidence. There are women pilots and women doctors.
Trusz is confident that her team will be able to compete because of the scoring system used in high school golf. Six players compete from each team, and face off against one another for a point in match play, in which the winner is the player who wins the most individual holes, not the player with the lowest overall score. The team with the lowest total score for its top five players also receives a point. "Even if they're losing their match, their score can still help the team," Trusz said.
Lewy said that even if the team's play isn't up to the level of some of the other schools, Long Beach will find ways to have fun. "This is all about going out and enjoying it," she said. "We just want to have fun and come out of this as better golfers. If I swing and miss, I'll just laugh. We've got nothing to lose."
"The other teams will get frustrated with us before we get frustrated with them," Lefkowitz said. "Maybe that will screw them up."
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