The Arcadia High School (AHS) Girls Golf team has achieved tremendous results during the 2021-2022 season, and freshman Zoe Sprecher, on Varsity, tells us all about it and her golf career.

Sprecher started playing golf when she was around 8-years-old. She began to play at a competitive level at the age of nine 9. Her father was the one who introduced the game to her. At first, Sprecher explained, she wasn’t extremely interested in golf. However, one day when she was watching golf on television, things changed.

“I saw the name Tiger Woods, and my father told me that he is the GOAT of the golf game,” Sprecher said. “When my father told me that, I started to get into the game of golf more by the age of seven.”

Her father then proceeded to teach her golf, and he is one reason why she is on the team right now.

In addition to going 30-0 this season, the six Varsity girls did something that hasn’t been done since 2009 at AHS. On Nov. 2, the girls won the California Interscholastic Federation Division II Southern Section Tournament. This competition was played against a few other schools that are in Division II as well. Winning this tournament granted the girls the opportunity to compete at Riverside City College to play against the Division I schools.

“This is such a big moment for the team because this is the second DII girls golf win since 2009. This is such a great honor to play in this tournament, and we are looking forward to defending our title.” Sprecher shared.

The girls won with a team score of 384, winning by five shots. For those who are unfamiliar with golf, the lower the score, the better the record.

A reason Sprecher loves golf is because of the challenge in the game. Whereas with other sports, the weather can determine whether you play the sport or not, Sprecher shared that in golf, you can practice and play in any circumstance. No matter if it’s hot, humid, windy, or even raining, it won’t stop her golfing.

Being one of the youngest on the team may not always be easy, but Sprecher enjoys it. She believes that having young players does not matter, for it is actually an advantage! Not only does her experience playing in tournaments help the team, but she also shared that junior Erica Lee, the number one player on the team, in addition to Sprecher herself, can bring the scores down by a lot in the tournaments.

“Being a freshman is really fun. It was really enjoyable talking with the other girls on the team during practice.”

Golf is known for being an individual sport, so what does it really mean to be a part of a golf team? To Sprecher, it’s not just the results.

“To me, being on the golf team is a great honor and experience,” Sprecher said. “It really taught me that golf is not just an individual sport where I can be completely focused on the task at hand; it taught me a lot of teamwork and how to work well with the team.”

Sprecher added that she will be trying out for the golf team again next season, and looks forward to defending the team’s Division II title.