Rivalry Continues After Players Become Teammates

The rivalry between Shelly Raworth and Priscilla Park began last season and had all the makings of a classic.

Raworth was a sophomore at Villa Park High and Park was an up-and-coming freshman at Century League-rival Foothill.

Raworth won the league title, but Park’s team went to the playoffs. Park was medalist at the Southern Section Central regional, but Raworth beat Park at the final.

The rivalry took an interesting turn over the summer, when Park’s family moved and Priscilla enrolled at Villa Park.

The union instantly made the Spartans a county power.

And the rivalry? It blossomed in a way neither could have predicted.

Instead of facing each other two or three times a year, Raworth and Park get to compete every day.

“We’re very competitive against each other,” Raworth said. “I don’t know about with her because we don’t talk about it. But for me there is definitely a competition to beat her.”

Clearly, this is a friendly competition built on respect. As the Spartans’ Nos. 1 and 2 players, Raworth and Park usually play together in matches.

They help each other read putts, figure distances and judge wind velocity.

But when it comes time to add up their scores, both pay close attention.

“It raises the standards that I have to play to,” Park said of having Raworth as a teammate. “We’re both pretty competitive but that helps us both play better, and that helps the team.”

So who’s ahead?

Park is averaging 40.2 for nine holes, Raworth 40.8. Raworth has broken 40 in 11 of 16 matches, Park nine of 16. Both have low rounds of 37.

“They’re dead even,” Villa Park Coach Gordon Sutorius said. “They are really good for one another. They have each other to feed off of when they’re playing some of the girls who are not in the same caliber.”

It took awhile for things to get rolling for the Spartans. Raworth had a case of the hooks and Park had just started with a new instructor when the season began. They started 1-4, with the losses coming against top-ranked University and then-No. 2 Santa Margarita.

Both players were inconsistent, alternating sub-40 rounds with high-40s rounds. After about two weeks, they found their stride. The Spartans have won nine consecutive matches and are ranked No. 3 in the county.

“We had a little trouble at the beginning,” Park said. “I don’t think anyone expected to play like that.”

The impact of Park and Raworth on team members Jessica Chong, Beth Gates, Megan Schindelbeck and others has been remarkable, according to their coach.

“They have something to shoot for,” Sutorius said. “They watch how [Park and Raworth] practice and how they play and they take that to their own practice and games.”

THREE AND OUT

At least one of the top county teams is going to be on the outside looking in at playoff time.

The Serra League, which includes No. 6 Santa Margarita, No. 7 Mater Dei and fast-rising Rosary, gets three automatic playoff berths. But Torrance Bishop Montgomery was added to the league for girls’ golf only, and after convincing victories over the three Orange County teams in the league, the Knights are 8-0 and almost a lock to win the title.

Santa Margarita, Mater Dei and Rosary are tied for second at 5-3. Lakewood St. Joseph is winless.

“Somebody is going to be left out,” Santa Margarita Coach Tim O’Hara said. “It’s going to happen to Mater Dei, Rosary or us.”

Unranked Rosary, the section runner-up a year ago, started the season 1-7 but has won five consecutive matches, including a 125-137 victory over Mater Dei and a one-stroke victory over Santa Margarita. The Royals lost to Bishop Montgomery, 115-125--the closest a Serra League opponent has come to the Knights.

O’Hara said in case of a three-way tie for second, the league tournament on Nov. 1-2 at Meadowlark will probably determine who gets the automatic berths and who gets left out.

LAUGHING WAY TO TITLE

Just how good is Bishop Montgomery? Serra League coaches are almost ready to concede the section trophy.

“They might as well start engraving the trophy now,” Rosary Coach Jamie McCance said. “Nobody’s going to touch them. They’ve got four kids that can go really low. When we played them they had five kids, and they all broke 40.”

O’Hara said he was in awe after the Knights trounced his Santa Margarita Eagles, 118-143.

“They were standing around before the match laughing and giggling and I was thinking, ‘These girls aren’t ready to play,’ ” O’Hara said. “Then the top two came in at 36 and 39 and I was like, ‘Wow.’ ”

SHAW WON’T PLAY

Mater Dei sophomore Shayna Shaw, recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, will not play for the Monarchs this season, Coach Cathy Quesnell said.

Shaw, runner-up in the South Coast League last season, injured her shoulder in a car accident. She was expected to be Mater Dei’s top player. The Monarchs have lost three consecutive matches, all Serra League contests.

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