Sanford has the skills
Published 9:08 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
If Jess Sanford is any indication, the Mount Si girls’ golf team has a bright future ahead of it.
Just a sophomore, Sanford knows the sport like the back of her hand. Her father, John, once worked at the Carnation Golf Course and is now a co-owner of Mount Si Golf Course in Snoqualmie.
She uses her father’s knowledge to her advantage, although she admits she should use it more.
“I probably don’t practice as much as I should, but yeah, I go over there every day after school during the season. Rain or shine, I practice,” she said.
“My dad comes out and helps me a lot with my game, and it’s just really enjoyable so I don’t notice all the practice time I put into it.”
But Sanford is still a relative newcomer to the game. She’s only competed in golf tournaments since her freshman year.
During that brief period of time, her talents have become apparent. This year, she qualified for the state 3A golf tournament.
But it was a struggle to get there. At both the conference and district tournaments, she barely made the cut. It was nerve-racking, to say the least.
“The first time at [the conference tournament], I came in and I was the second group to come in, so I had about 20 other groups coming in so there was a lot of stress right there. And the year before I had done the exact same thing.
“But at districts, since I did finish last, I was in the very last group to come in. So that wasn’t quite as [stressful] because I came in and I knew right away that I had made it, even though just barely,” she added.
Working through the stress and anxiety was a feat in itself at the conference tournament.
“I paced back and forth a lot. My teammates, Rachel [Kenibath, sophomore] and Stacey [Shultz, junior], kept telling me to sit down and get something to drink, and I’d be fine,” Sanford said.
At the state tournament, she shot a 101, which did not make the cut on the first day, but Sanford was satisfied with her effort.
“I didn’t hit the ball as well as I would’ve liked to, but overall I was pretty happy with it because I’ve definitely shot worse,” she said.
Sanford has much more golf ahead of her, saying that she would like to continue playing the sport in college.
“I plan on golfing the next two years, hopefully being able to make it to the second day at state by senior year. And then in college, I’ll probably look at getting on a golf team,” she said, adding her college preference would be “one out on the East Coast.”
As for making money in the future playing on the women’s pro golf tour, Sanford is realistic: “Probably not, but it’d be nice,” she said.
