Eagles soar to victory

It’s clear the Estancia High girls golf team finally has the talent

to win its first league title under seven-year Coach Art Perry. At

the same time, the rest of the league looks down this season, so

Estancia expects to encounter little resistance in winning the Golden

West League championship.

Tuesday at the Costa Mesa Country Club’s Mesa Linda course,

Estancia took a step toward the title, defeating crosstown rival

Costa Mesa High, 212-307, in a Golden West League match.

“We’ll win league, there’s no doubt about it,” Estancia junior

Lina You said.

The Eagles (8-2, 2-0) are so confident they will win their league,

they are already marking the CIF playoff dates on their calendars.

“Our main goal is to concentrate on CIF,” Estancia junior Bridgett

Gleason said. “All of our players are returning players, so

expectations are high.”

“I see us being on top,” said Perry, who believes his team can

edge out Orange and Ocean View for the Golden West League

championship. “We’re looking to win our league, advance out of the

CIF playoffs and have girls go to the CIF Individuals.”

Gleason, an all-league returner with a good chance to be one of

the girls who winds up in the CIF Individuals, had Estancia’s top

score against Costa Mesa Tuesday, posting a 2-over-par 37 despite not

recording a birdie.

Carolyn Clements, who had to sit out last year after transferring

from Corona del Mar, shot a 40, and all-league returner Lina You, a

big hitter off the tee, birdied the 425-yard, par-5 fifth hole and

finished with a 41 for nine holes.

Gleason, You and Clements represent Estancia’s big three. On any

given day, Perry says any one of them is capable of shooting a 36 or

a 37. Tuesday, it was Gleason.

Not far behind the big three is senior Lauren Cushing, who was

fourth on the team with a 46 -- she recorded a birdie on the 68-yard,

par-3 eighth hole. Senior Lauren Donner rounded out the top five for

the Eagles by posting a 48.

Expectations were low going into the match for the Mustangs, who

were without their top two players. Costa Mesa’s No. 1 player,

Christy Gregory, was home sick, and the team’s No. 2 golfer, Sarah

Grabarsky, had to work. So the team was just trying to put in a

respectable showing against an Estancia team regarded as the best in

the league.

“We’ve got a lot of brand new players who’ve never played before

this season,” said first-year Mustang Coach Tom Baldwin, who enlisted

his former football coach and old friend, John Coury, to be his

assistant. “We shot a 317 the last time we played here, so there’s

already been improvement.”

Leading the way for the Mustangs was returner Melissa Pardue, who

shot a 55. Maggie Moss finished with a 63 for Costa Mesa (1-2, 1-1).