[New post] Allie Nguyen represents Woodland Christian at Girls Masters Golf Tournament | Athlete of the Week
Shaun Holkko posted: "In the first season of girls golf at Woodland Christian High School, one Cardinal advanced all the way to the Sac-Joaquin Section Girls Masters Golf Tournament. Junior Allie Nguyen competed at Masters in Stockton on Monday. She advanced to the tourname" Daily Democrat
In the first season of girls golf at Woodland Christian High School, one Cardinal advanced all the way to the Sac-Joaquin Section Girls Masters Golf Tournament.
Junior Allie Nguyen competed at Masters in Stockton on Monday. She advanced to the tournament by shooting an 80 and being crowned as individual champion at the Division IV SJS Girls Golf Divisional Tournament last week on Oct. 23. Nguyen led the Cardinals to a third place finish as a team at Divisionals after winning the Golden Empire League championship.
"I was very happy because we were in Division IV this year so we didn't have a lot of pressure and we still won," Nguyen explained. "It was really cool because I had all my friends with me. Golf is my main sport and being able to share memories with them while playing something that I love was really cool. Now we can all enjoy it together."
Nguyen shot an 84 at Masters earlier this week at The Reserve at Spanos Park. The top three teams and four individuals qualified for the Northern California tournament. Nguyen finished 13 strokes short of advancing.
"I had a good start and then I sort of fell apart at the end there which was disappointing. Overall, it was a good learning experience. It was cool that I actually got to go to Masters this year because last year I didn't make it," Nguyen said. "I think it's really encouraging to see that we have athletes and talent here at a small school. It was really cool seeing how well we were able to perform our first year.
"A lot of people thought we weren't going to be very good. Then we performed, won league and I made it to Masters. A lot of people were really surprised and I think that's encouraging. We're going to be better next year too."
According to Allie's dad and Woodland Christian girls golf coach, Tuan Nguyen, she started off her round with a bogey on the second hole after driving into the water on a blind tee shot. Allie recovered to shoot a 38 on the front-9 which put her in contention to qualify as an individual after a tough start.
"A couple mistakes on the back led her to lose some confidence and put up some big numbers on two holes which led to a 46 on the back," Tuan recalled. "She needed to have a really good day to have a shot. It didn't happen for her yesterday and that's OK. That's why we use these experiences to build and prepare for next year.
"It'll benefit her tremendously because this was her first time participating in that event. She got to play with some of the best juniors in Northern California. She could see the experience they bring to the golf course that allow them to stay calm, collected and ultimately post good numbers. Until you play with those types of players at that level, you don't know what it takes to shoot those scores. When you are able to play against them, you see that it's not magic, it's just experience combined with their skill level."
Allie said she had two favorite moments from this past season: advancing at Divisionals and the team's first tournament of the season.
"Our first tournament at El Macero, it was our first 18-hole tournament, some girls their first tournament ever," Allie recalled. "We actually did pretty well there and I just knew it was going to be a great team dynamic from that first tournament. I knew that we would have a lot of fun!"
During her underclassmen years, Allie played on the boys team with Tuan as the head coach. Woodland Christian won the Central Valley California League in the spring and added to the Nguyen family legacy with a GEL championship, GEL MVP award and Masters qualification this fall.
"Our main thing is trying to create this atmosphere and community of golfers," Allie said. "Golf hasn't really been a popular sport for the past couple of years. Now I see a lot of people getting into it and really enjoying it. My dad and I have just been trying to find kids who want to play, be there and want to get better. If we win along the way, that's great, but we're ultimately just trying to bring golf into our community."
Now that girls golf season has come to an end, Allie will return to the court and play for the Cardinals girls varsity basketball team.
"Golf is a very athletic sport. By playing other sports, you're engaging your other muscles and hand-eye coordination skills that you need," Allie explained. "It helps other sports too. If you're playing both of them at the same time, you're actually getting better at both. Playing multiple sports has really helped me for both basketball and golf a lot."
Allie's breakout 2022-23 season landed her on the CVCL first-team and in the top 10 of several statistical categories as a sophomore. She averaged 11.3 points (sixth) and 2.7 assists (second) per game. Allie recorded totals of 43 3-pointers (first), 112 field goals (fifth) and 38 free throws (fifth).
"Allie is someone who wasn't on anyone's radar last year as a freshman and really put in a ton of work in the offseason to improve her game, recognizing that she was going to have a significant role on this year's team," said girls varsity basketball coach Shiloh Sorbello in March. "It's nice to see that the other league coaches recognized that."
Girls basketball season at Woodland Christian tips off at the Jack Hamlin Gym on Nov. 15 at 5:30 p.m. against Sutter.
"We have a lot of upcoming talent and a lot of freshmen coming up. It'll be fun to see how it plays out," Allie foreshadowed. "We're going to have a lot of inexperienced players but I think that we're all pretty much friends so we'll create a good team dynamic where we can work all the kinks out pretty quickly in the preseason. I'm going to have to step up as a leader this year. This basketball season will be challenging but it will be a lot of fun so I'm excited."
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