Since March, the Ramapo varsity girl’s golf team has been working hard and breaking school records. Throughout the season, the team has continued to grow strong as one. This year, the team got a new coach who is no newbie to Ramapo. Coach Lawler was a 2004 Ramapo graduate and an all-county and league golfer for the boy’s team under Ozzie Carlson.
Coach Lawler knew golf was his life’s passion and all-time commitment. He later played division one golf at Fairleigh Dickinson University as well as coached their men’s and women’s teams in 2008 and 2009.
Coach Lawler, although receiving the position on late notice, was able to positively impact the team by bringing success to everyone’s game and the ultimate dynamics of the team. He states, “It was a great first season. The girls were amazing, so welcoming and friendly. It felt like I hadn’t left Ramapo. Every member of the team learned a lot and improved. I had a blast sharing my love of the game with each member of the team. When looking back it was a record-breaking season for the program with only better years to come with nine of the ten varsity players returning next year.” The team finished with a 12-2 Record, 8-2 in the league, and placed second in the division.
On April 9th, the girl’s golf team had their first program victory in school history against IHA with an overall score of 164-167. This match proved to be the motivation the team needed and resulted in the continuation of success throughout the rest of the season.
On May 3rd, the team hit another milestone and scored a season-low of 163 versus Ridgewood at Darlington by Reese Fishman, Skylar Lee, Olivia Ki, and Kacie Gmiterek.
Sophomore player Skylar Lee shot a program record of 34 (two under par) on April 29th at Darlington in the match against Mahwah. Lee shot another 34 on April 30th against West Milford at Bowling Green. In the two back-to-back matches, Ramapo was victorious with an average of 49 fewer strokes compared to the opposing team.
The most exciting highlight of the season had to have been Reese Fishman’s impressive hole-in-one on hole number five (par three) at Darlington in the match against Ridgewood on May 3rd; with a Seven Iron! Fishman completed the match with a 35 (one under par).
Coach Lawler said his favorite highlight of this year was watching the team bond and improve as the season went on. He noted that watching Emma McElkenny make her first birdies and Emma Ufakacar make her first par in a match were also some of his favorite moments.
Sophomore Reese Fishman stated that the team dynamic greatly improved the success of the team as a whole, “I enjoyed competing with the team, bonding, winning matches, and my hole-in-one … as the season went on we got closer as a team and after we lost our first two matches, we were able to come back and win the rest finishing 12-2!” Practices, actual games, and afternoons at the Darlington driving range not only improved everyone’s skills, but also the friendships within the team.
Sophomore Skylar Lee, the average lowest-scoring player on the team, reflected on her first year as part of the team, a memorable experience. She says, “I really enjoyed getting to know all my teammates because after meeting everyone, we all clicked so well and everyone was just having a good time. Having such good people around me during the season definitely made the experience memorable. Being able to work as a team and learn from our mistakes together was something new for me and I loved it. Overall, I enjoyed my team and coach because we all had the same goals in mind, to grow as golfers and have fun.”