COACH OF THE YEAR Roberta Garcia-Uyemura, Diamond Bar
Golf is an inherently individual sport at its core, but high school golfers have a bonus of having a team to compete with in many competitions.
But not Los Osos senior Amanda De Jesus.
De Jesus, competing this past fall purely as an individual, nonetheless had a highly successful season as she advanced to the CIF/SCGA SoCal Championships and earned IE Varsity girls golfer of the year honors.
De Jesus’ end-of-season success is notable. She finished in a three-way tie for second at the CIF-SS finals (taking fourth on a card-off), shooting a 69 at the Vineyard Course at River Ridge Golf Course in Oxnard to qualify for the CIF/SCGA Championship. There, despite not qualifying for the state tournament, she shot a respectable 75 at Brookside Golf Course.
That 69 included a remarkable feat for De Jesus, one that many golfers never experience — a hole-in-1 on the 127-yard 17th hole.
“I remember standing in the tee box, putting myself in the zone,” the UC Riverside-bound DeJesus said. “I knew I was 1 over par. I was desperate. I used a pitching wedge and it was downwind . ... As soon as I see it land (I thought), ‘Oh, I knocked that really close. Is there a chance I hit it so pure?’ I had backspin on it.
“It was really fun. It was so satisfying for some reason.”
De Jesus’ season path was different than it had been in other years.
Los Osos doesn’t have a girls golf team. Previously, she could qualify for the girls CIF postseason in the fall by simply competing in the freelance qualifier, then compete with the coed team during the spring.
That changed this year, when she was told she would have to qualify for the postseason through the Baseline League, where the schools have girls teams. And she would have to compete as an individual for the majority of the league schedule before league finals.
While tagging along to Etiwanda’s matches, she went on to become Baseline League champion. And she continuously impressed Los Osos coach Greg Walker.
“That is the biggest missing link for a kid. She didn’t have a set of teammates to practice with, do drills with,” said Walker, adding, “the Baseline League girls were great to her.”
When she competes for UC Riverside, she’ll be the second Division I girls golfer from Los Osos, joining Jade Siphomsay, who is currently at the University of San Francisco.
“I would describe Amanda as determined,” Walker said. “Amanda wants to do well in everything she does. She works beyond hard. She gets up over a shot and she always thinks she can make it. She has a firm confidence that she is prepared.”
Despite her hard work, De Jesus says she doesn’t suffer from burnout.
“I’m absolutely crazy about golf,” she said. “Golf is such a precise sport. If you go a few days without playing, you’re going to be off.”
While she continued to practice during the pandemic shutdown, the lack of competition helped her.
“I had time to myself to think and practice. It made me enjoy the game a lot more. I have more patience. It’s about being kind to yourself and not going out there and beating yourself up because you played bad,” she said.
Poor play wasn’t a big problem for De Jesus this season.
Garcia-Uyemura guided the Brahmas to top-10 finishes at the CIF Southern Section’s Division 1 championships and the CIF-SCGA team qualifying tournament this season.
Diamond Bar finished ninth at the divisional finals and was the only Inland team to qualify for the regional tournament.
The Brahmas posted a score of 395 at the SCGA qualifier to finish eighth in the team standings.
FIRST TEAM