Watchung Hills girls golf looks to improve in second season as a program

Coming off its inaugural season, the Watchung Hills High School girls golf team is ready to use what it learned last year to grow and improve as a team.

The team started last year as the brain child of junior Marlene Tartaro and graduated senior Rachel Tung, who had previously played on the boys team. They came together and managed to get enough girls interested to form a team, as 16 players tried out, and according to coach Anthony Criscitello, 13 made it.

The Warriors struggled last year as they won three matches and finished last in the conference, but placed second at the Lady Bombers Invitational as Tartaro finished third.

This season, Criscitello said 20 girls tried out for the team, and 12 were selected, with nine players returning. With only one loss from last season, Tung, Watchung Hills returns almost its entire team.

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"What I would expect for this year is definitely improve over last year, last year was getting our feet wet, this year they know what to expect," Criscitello said. "The girls aren’t nervous, they know they’re going to be paired with girls from other teams and they’re going to have to play nine holes. Last year everything was new for us, I think they were nervous playing around other girls. They’re more mature, they have a full year of experience under their belt, so when they go on the course this year I expect them to handle that kind of pressure."

Tartaro was the leading scorer on the team last year with an average score of 41, and returns this year as a captain.

"It’s huge, she has the most experience on the team," Criscitello said of Tartaro. "The girls look up to her and she's really helpful to me, she coaches the girls when I’m not with each group. She’s a leader so the team looks up to her."

Sofia Kwon and Caitlin Yang also return from last season. Criscitello said Kwon has been working hard in the offseason and has cut her average down by about five strokes. Yang was a breakout player from last season that had just started playing the game of golf, and Criscitello is expecting her to have another good year.

"A lot of the girls that were on varsity and played are back on the team this year, so we all have tournament experience, we all have match experience," Tartaro said. "It’s more competitive this year and it was hard to get on the team, which was a surprise. It was nice because now all the girls have dipped from scores in the high 50s to the high 40s, which is incredible in two months of playing, which is great."

Aanya Sethi is a freshman who tried out for the team and has golfing experience, while sophomore Anika Kamerkar was third or fourth in scoring during tryouts, according to Criscitello.

The Warriors will miss out on the Lady Bombers Invitational this year, but open their season against Hillsborough on April 4.

"I just want to grow the program because even if we don’t win a match this year, the only way to get better is to have sustainable growth," Tartaro said. "I want to make sure the girls get experience so they can pass on the knowledge and experience to the next group of girls that comes along. I’m glad we’re able to keep that up and that’s the biggest goal I would say, to pass that on."

Notes

Hunterdon Central senior Katie Lee will look to defend her titles at the Red Devil Invitational and the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament this season. Lee finished two strokes behind Holy Angels' Kelly Sim in the North sectionals last year, and finished in sixth at the Tournament of Champions.

Sophomore Ami Gianchandani of Pingry will look to defend her Skyland Conference title and improve on her fourth place finishes at the Somerset County Tournament and the Tournament of Champions. Pingry will also return freshman Christine Shao, who finished second at the Somerset County Tournament.

Anina Ku of Ridge finished second at the Tournament of Champions last season as a sophomore, third at the Somerset County Tournament and third at the North sectionals. Carolyn Wang, who finished tied for fifth at the Somerset County Tournament, also returns.

Montgomery's Rosey Li won the South sectionals as a junior last year, and will look to improve on her fourth place finish in the Skyland Conference Tournament. She also finished sixth at the Tournament of Champions. Madeline Jin, who won the Somerset County Tournament with a five-under par as a freshman, also returns.

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego