It might be a different of a year for the Lady Pintos on the links, after winning districts last year, placing third in sectionals and eighth in state.
Seniors Renee Roberts and Sophie Brant return this season, after playing in last year's state tournament, but head coach Ashley Atteberry has three new girls who just started playing the game of golf this summer. Sophomores Madison Ratcliff and Sarah McCord stared playing earlier this summer, and Senior Maryanne Henley picked up the sport earlier this month.
"They are completely brand new to the sport, but they've learned a lot," Atteberry said. "All three of those golfers have improved tremendously, and we're just working on fundamentals."
Atteberry - who's entering her third year as head coach - will lean on Roberts and Brant not only in tournaments this season, but also in practice.
"I've had the older girls mentor the younger girls," she said. "Whenever we go out and play nine holes, (Ratcliff, McCord and Henley) are paired up with someone who's been playing just to make sure it's not all necessarily coming from me, but the girls with experience as well."
Not to mention, returning to basic swing technique is never a bad idea for experienced golfers like Brant and Roberts.
"It's good for the girls with experience to go back to fundamentals," Atteberry said. "We went back to basic swing techniques. Even if you've been golfing for a long time, your swing can get a little bit out of whack."
Atteberry called Brant her lead golfer, saying she's very consistent anywhere she's at on the course. Roberts is another golfer with four years experience, and Atteberry is working on getting all her shots together before the season starts.
To start the season, she'll bring just those two to away tournaments, which won't allow them to win as a team on the road. All five will play during home tournaments. Brant and Roberts were all-district last year and qualified individually for state, so Atteberry is expecting another big year for them.
"When you break it down on how many girls start out in district, they were within the top 60 in the state in class one," she said. "I expect both of them to qualify in districts individually, because they're going to have to. We're probably not going to get it through as a team, and I expect them to do better than they did in state last year."
The Lady Pintos teed up their season in Jefferson City on Monday and Centralia on Tuesday. California hosts Hallsville and Sacred Heart on Tuesday at 4 p.m. for its first home tournament.