As the new school year begins, so does the Bakersfield College women’s golf season. With only one player returning from last year, Melissa Lopez, who went on to play in the regional finals, the team is looking forward to this season.
Golf coach Bob Paillet, says he is excited about this season because “the community support has gone up for our golf programs. The entire golf community has embraced college golf in Bakersfield.”
With the team only having a total of four players, Coach Paillet is counting on freshmen, Kendall Huser and Jessica Madrid to do well this season. “Yeah I think Kendall has a chance to go to state finals and Jessica with hard work can do real well,” he said.
Having fewer players gives Coach Paillet a chance to really focus on making the girls better players. “ I’ll try to get through them, I’ll work with what they have. I’ll help them manage the golf course, push them a little bit but know when to back off, and to be able to give them constructive criticism when I have to,” he said. He also expressed that the girls are going to have to adapt to the tougher competition of college golf. “They need to realize that even junior college golf is a big step above high school golf. There is tougher competition and it takes a lot more dedication and hard work to get ready to play,” he said.
Despite having a very small team expectations are still high. The main goal for the team this year is to try its best to represent Bakersfield College and the city of Bakersfield at a high level. “The scores may not be the best, but as long as they compete and try their best, that is all we can ask for,” he said.
Another thing that Coach Paillet is looking forward towards the golf program as a whole is the fact that in the future, players will have the opportunity to stay here in Bakersfield and continue their golf career at the collegiate level. “We have great relationship with the CSUB golf program. Greg Osbourne, who is the director of golf at CSUB, and I are working together in having BC be the feeder school for CSUB,” he explained.