The girls’ golf team has been making strides this season, one stroke at a time.
Their senior night took place on September 22. The night is full of tradition, including one called The Coaches Cup. This is a highly anticipated event when Matt “Sunshine” Fiordirosa and coach Sam Beckman play a two-man alternate shot format versus the team divided into 4 person scramble teams. The scramble is where everyone tees off, chooses the best shot, and then the process is continued until holed out on
each hole.
This year, Mercedes Rodriguez de Lavelle Pozas, Karmen LaMartin, Mahira Bhalla, and Claire Beckman came for redemption after the coaches won in 2024. The winners get their names “engraved” in yellow paint on an old brass flower vase that’s passed down each year.
In addition to spirited traditions, the Varsity Girls’ Golf Team has a 7-2 record in dual matches, won the Warren Quad, took 2nd in the Lake County Invite, and 3rd in both the Barrington and Libertyville Invites. Most recently, the team placed 2nd in the Conference tournament and overall.
“We played our conference tournament at Bittersweet golf course, which lives up to the name, because it is notoriously a hard course. We all played in threesomes with Libertyville and Stevenson, who are our closest competitors. It was a fair match, and we ended up placing second, which is super exciting,” said senior captain Sophia Maffioli.
The team has focused specifically on mastering their mental strategy as well as physical strategies. Coach Beckman says the team focuses on “input equals output” instead of setting specific, achievable goals.
“So, if we can achieve certain input goals, we will measure it as a success because we know how to solve whatever issue the golf course throws at us. There are so many things you cannot control in golf, especially the play of other teams, that if you only focus on output (winning all of our matches, or winning conference, state, etc.), you are bound to fail,” said Beckman. “I would say we hit 90-95% of those inputs. I am very proud of all the team has accomplished, and I hope the team is as well.”
One of the greatest achievements of this team this year is the improvement of scores for returners and year-long progression for first-year athletes. The team’s returning athletes averaged an improvement of over 2 strokes per nine holes from last year, and not a single athlete averaged worse this year than last. A few team members, Madeline “Iggy” Ignoffo and Claire Maguire, dropped as many as 7 to 9 strokes per nine holes over the last year. First-year team members dropped an average of 5 strokes per nine holes from tryouts to the end of the season.
“For someone like freshman Siena Serwy, she dropped almost 10 strokes and ended up a medalist in the JV conference tournament,” said Beckman.
Not only has the team had a successful season full of improvement, but they have built strong team bonds and lived up to the Lake Forest High School name. Golf can be a mentally challenging sport, considering it is individual, but the girls have bonded and became a spirited team.
The team is part of a tough regional and is often referred to as a “mini state” tournament. Out of the 10 teams in the regional, three are top five in the state, and two (including Lake Forest) are in the top 15. This goes to show the true rigor of the sport.
“I have been on a team with the seniors since freshman year, and I have seen the team grow. Coach Beckman took this individual sport and turned it into a true team,” said Marshall. “I am extremely proud of our season and can’t wait to see the program thrive.”
