FULLERTON, Calif. – With the second half of the 2014-15 women's golf season approaching, FullertonTitans.com caught up with head coach Pearl Sinn-Bonanni to look back on an impressive fall showing and to look ahead to the spring portion of the schedule.
The Titans scored a team victory at the Rose City Challenge in Portland, Ore. in September and saw senior Tisha Alyn Abrea score her first career individual victory at the same event.
Abrea and sophomore Martina Edberg also tied the school record for lowest round as they each carded a 69 during the fall season.
Fullerton opens the second half of the season on Feb. 9 with a trip to The Gold Rush, hosted by Long Beach State at Old Ranch Golf Course in Seal Beach, Calif.
FullertonTitans.com: With the second half of the season getting ready to start, what is your take on how the team performed in the first half during the fall?
Pearl Sinn-Bonanni: We started out the year kind of with low expectations because of the loss of Seri Lee, our number three player and so we just set small goals this fall and put the burden of missing Seri on Tisha and Martina and they responded.
Tisha, who is a senior and probably had never realized all of her potential as a collegiate player and she didn't have a win; I think she kind of took it to task this summer and worked really hard, came ready to play and did her thing and that really helped us out. Other than that we really focused on team unity. We are a small group of girls this year so there's not a lot of inner competition going on so unity is really a key to this group.
FT: There was a lot of travelling for the team during the fall season, including a trip to Hawai'i. How would you say that helped your girls grow as a team and what was the experience like?
PB: It was really great. I was able to have everyone on the team there in Hawai'i. We got rained out the first practice round day and that was a blessing in many ways because the girls really got to know each other off the golf course without a lot of stress and that was really great. They learned a lot about each other. As a matter of fact, I got a Christmas gift from them; an album that they made with all the pictures from the year with lessons they learned and one of the lessons was that Hawai'i was that pivotal moment where they recognized that they are a sorority.
FT: What have you seen from Martina Edberg and Tisha Alyn Abrea in the fall and how much growth and improvement did you see in their games during the fall?
PB: Tisha, and this is no knock on her, is a model American golfer. She's played golf through the eyes of her parents with them taking her to golf tournaments; had a swing coach and has just kind of gone through all the right things that you're supposed to do in golf as a developing player. I think when she came to college; it's a lot more independent. We encourage them to think outside the box and think for themselves and not relying on swing coaches or us for that matter. I think that was a longer transition for her and I'm learning that too. When I recruit international players versus American players I have to prepare them differently. I think with Tisha it just took her a little time to learn what she's capable of. The summer was a really great learning period for her, we had a couple of talks over the summer where she said, 'I'm doing this a lot more on my own now,' and I think that kind of translates to her thinking more on her own on the golf course. She did great and up at Portland State she was right there in front and she held it together to the end.
For Martina, it's always tough coming off that good year especially as a freshman, and not rest on your laurels. So we talked about setting new goals and loftier goals for her. Unfortunately she spent most of the fall sick. She was very ill for three of the four tournaments that she played in and it was really tough for her. But she's such a gifted player and we at Fullerton and me as her golf coach have to do a better job of providing her more challenges in golf. That's my focus for her is to make sure that, whether it's at practice or at tournaments that we do set some solid goals for her to reach.
FT: How would you assess the performance of the rest of the team and their value to the squad, including freshman Brittany Farrell making an impact right out of the gate?
PB: They are invaluable to the team. While the first two players were putting up some good numbers for us we have to count four scores so they were really invaluable. Brittany for sure, as a freshman; when we recruited her we were really looking at her as sort of that five spot kind of player and because of the circumstances she had to step in. I think she's well prepared and comes from a very good family that has given her the right type of support and she doesn't fold to the pressure. She does her job and she's feisty so it's really fun to have her on the team. She did a good job and she also played through some injuries. She had some tendinitis so her focus in the winter has been on getting herself stronger and she's trying to become a more well rounded player.
FT: You begin the spring at the Gold Rush hosted by Long Beach State. Can you assess the competition that will be there and what your expectations are for the Titans?
PB: The competition is what we face every week so there's nothing different. That's one thing I always focus on with our team is that it doesn't matter where we go; it's us against ourselves and the golf course. We just do our best to prepare here and that way when we get there we just let the game fly and see where it comes out. In terms of the players, we have a luxury of having two to three weeks to prepare whereas in the fall we go on the road right away. So we have a little bit of a luxury this week and next week we'll be focusing a lot more on the short game and the feel. A lot of our players do take some time off in the winter so we are kind of working through the rust a little bit. We'll do the best we can.
FT: The Big West Championships obviously round out the regular season schedule. What will it take for this team to surpass the third-place finish from 2011-12 and where do the Titans stack up with the rest of the Big West?
PB: I think we're competitive. We are very competitive. In golf, you can't predict. Anything can happen out there and we just have to focus on believing in what we are capable of doing and have to focus on keeping that unity. Our focus in the fall was that we have to play as a group. As a collegiate player, you don't have answers for everything. There are always ways that you can help each other out. I don't have answers for every single shot in golf but they may so that's what our focus is going to be leading up to the Big West Championships and as long as they work as a group like that and practice with a lot of purpose then anything can happen.
FT: What was your favorite moment from the fall and what are you most excited about as the team heads to the spring portion of the schedule?
PB: I'm not trying to single out anybody but it probably was Tisha winning her first individual title. She is a consummate worker. We had a late practice on Tuesday and she rolled through the golf course an hour before tee time and I asked her, 'Where have you been?' And she said, 'I've been practicing all morning.' So she's put in the work and it's always great to see people get rewarded for the amount of work they've put in so that was a really neat moment for me to watch her accomplish what she's always wanted to do. And then in the spring, I think hoping that Martina will have a really good run and a chance to defend her Big West title would be great. As a team, I think we have some good tournaments lined up. We're going to be traveling a lot together and developing some other players for next year too like Nadine Rivera, another really hard worker. So I think it will be really neat to see her develop. She kind of started to put it together in Hawai'i so hopefully we can roll with that and help her out. I think Kathryn (New) and I have been really focused on having a team that has that inner drive and we try to be purposeful in everything that we do and I want them to know that's not only on the golf course but it helps them succeed in life and that's kind of been our goal over the winter.