UTRGV Women’s Golf Team junior Samantha Garza stands on the green during practice last Wednesday on the Los Lagos Golf Course in Edinburg. Ramiro Castro Jr./THE RIDER PHOTOS
The UTRGV Women’s Golf Team has had a rocky start this year, placing 10th of 13 at the Bearkat Invitational last month in Huntsville and 10th of 15 at the Golf Iconic Classic Oct. 3 to 5 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Even though the team has had a rough start, head coach Bryan Novoa is confident that his team has improved since its first tournament.
“Well, I think we got [off] to a slow start [and] just had to shake a little bit of rust off the first tournament,” Novoa said. “The second tournament, I saw a great improvement from the first couple of weeks of practice and then getting kind of acclimated to a competitive environment. I noticed that our scores went down. Gosh, I think on average, like 10 shots for the tournament itself and per round, and that was really, really a good step in the right direction.”
Novoa has thought of an exercise for when the team may feel discouraged with its performance in tournaments.
“The exercise is what do you want to be the best at,” Novoa said. “It can be anything. It can be being a mother, a wife, their career they choose or what are they gonna be great at. And the reminder is: We show up to be great every day. That, ultimately, is the goal.
“And, you know, when certain things in our mindset take us in a different direction or distract us or get us off course, I simply remind them that the present moment is their best friend, and we get aware of our environment’s surroundings and remember that we can control this moment and this moment only with our processes and decisions that we’re making.”
Novoa said his ultimate goal is to create an environment for his athletes to succeed in all their goals.
“The ultimate goal is to help each player discover their own self-belief in themselves, to be the best they can be,” Novoa said. “You know, I wish I could wave a wand and create the self-belief necessary to be successful. …
“Unfortunately, I can’t do that. I just attempt to create the environment every day and create the atmosphere of understanding, personal growth, intelligence. … And my true goal is for them to do it on their own and do it without me so they can be the best they can be.”
While the team has had a rough start, individual players, such as sophomore Maria Jose Ramirez, who posted a career-best three-under par 69 in the second round of the Golf Iconic Classic, have had success.
Ramirez became the sixth golfer in program history to break 70 in her second round and tied for the third lowest single-round score in program history.
“So I’ve been working a lot to improve my short game, like course management, compared to last year,” she said. “It has been a lot better. And, even though our first tournament wasn’t the best, we came back to practice and practiced even harder, not only on our techniques but also with our minds because that’s super important when you’re playing golf.
“And, in the last tournament, I had a really big breakthrough with my golf and inside my head also. So that’s a goal that I have achieved. And there’s still a lot more to add, just to keep up with the pace that we have in the future tournaments.”
At the Golf Iconic Classic, junior Samantha Garza earned an impressive 223.
“What I’m hoping to achieve by the end of the season is definitely knowing that I stay committed to how I plan to play certain types of courses,” Garza said. “And also committing to the processes we develop as a team. And just knowing that we’re always prepared for whatever is thrown at us.”
The women’s team will compete in the Clash at Boulder Creek in Boulder City, Nevada, Oct. 23 to 25.
For more information, visit goutrgv.com.
