SV starts its title defense
Pera returns as coach, inherits 2019 team champion and two-time individual champ Shi
The Santa Cruz County Athletic League girls golf season begins Tuesday and Scotts Valley High senior Candus Shi has her sights set on winning on a third straight individual title.
Shi won the SCCAL title last season with a career-best performance, shooting a scintillating 74 at DeLaveaga Golf Course in Santa Cruz, outdistancing teammate Elana McGrew by 15 strokes.
“Candus is really consistent, from tee to green,” said Scotts Valley coach Tom Pera, who is taking over this season as coach Louie Walters grabs the reins in football during this Covidshifted season with sports overlapping. “Candus has the same type of swing every time. She has a good short game and putting; she’s got the whole thing together.”
Pera started Scotts Valley’s program back in 1999 and later coached at Cabrillo College for 11 years before recently retiring (and now coming out of retirement for the spring season).
Shi participated in the CCS individual tournament the last two years, finishing 64th two seasons ago and moving up to a 27th place finish last year, carding a 79 at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Monterey with a round that included an eagle.
“I feel that Candus Shi is the
top player in the league,” Aptos coach Matthew Anderson said. “She is consistent in her scoring, has a magnificent swing and has an excellent grasp of her game and how to utilize her skills creatively on the course. Very impressive player.”
McGrew, a first-team allSCCAL golfer last year as a freshman and the runner-up to Shi in the league finals, returns to give the Falcons the top two golfers in the league. Shi won medalist honors nine times last season; McGrew shared medalist honors with Shi twice and won it outright once, and may be the only golfer within shouting distance of Shi.
“Elana hits the ball really well,” Pera said. “She has high aspirations and just needs some edges smoothed out.”
Scotts Valley won the league title last year with a 10-0 record, advanced to the CCS Championships for the first time since 2011, and is favored to capture the SCCAL crown this year. Competition will come from Soquel, second last season with an 8-2 league record, and Aptos, which finished third at 6-4. San Lorenzo Valley fills out the quartet of schools competing this season.
The SCCAL schedule has each team playing every opponent twice. Teams consist of up to six players, with the top four factoring into scoring for the team competition. The threeweek season is scheduled to conclude on April 22, with CCS team and individual competitions to follow on June 9.
Aptos will be solid this season. Alexandra Gonzales, first-team all-league last year, is part of a powerful trio at the top for the Mariners, along with Rowan Bowyer and Kylie Nelson.
“Alexandra made first team last year as a freshman,” coach Matthew Anderson said. “She is always looking to improve and shows commitment to golf by playing in local tournaments and by engaging in professional instruction. Rowan made second team last year and was our most consistent player. She has great athletic ability and has the mental toughness to deal with the ebbs and flows. Kylie is another great athlete with lots of power and a short game that has been improving steadily over the last two seasons.”
Soquel had a breakthrough season in 2019. The Knights are thin this year, with just two returnees, though bolstered by two new freshmen.
“Last season was the first season Soquel High School had a girls team in some time,” coach Thomas Held said. “I was very proud of the athletes and how they came together as a team. They finished the season in second place to Scotts Valley High School.”
Adam Lopez takes the helm of the San Lorenzo Valley golf team this year, as Shane Sutcliffe is also the baseball coach and will instead direct the hardballers during the compressed overlapping schedules this spring. Lopez, a 2014 graduate of SLV, played golf at San Jose City College.
SLV’s five-person squad is led by returnees Erika Kindred, fifth in the SCCAL playoffs last year, and Emma Anderson.
“Erika is a phenomenal athlete,” Lopez said. “She is a really good softball player too and very coachable. She is super competitive and she hits the ball far.”
Some schools do not have full teams but will have players competing in the SCCAL championships. Look for Santa Cruz’ Kamria Karst, second-team allleague two years ago and first-team all-league last season.
For all of the players, coaches and teams, the opportunity to simply have a season, SCCAL championships and CCS playoffs is most welcome.
“I’m sure it has been a difficult year for the students, with remote learning and being away from their peers,” Soquel’s Held said. “I’m excited for some of the athletes to be able to get back to playing their respective sports and some sort of normalcy.”