The majority of Granada students play a school sport. They devote their after-school hours to practice. This athlete spends her time out on the golf course practicing almost everything, from going to the driving range to hitting long and short putts on the green. She plays a technical sport created in Scotland during the 15th century.
Zhuofan Shi, who prefers to be called Emily, has been playing golf ever since fourth grade. Emily is a senior at Granada and she has been part of the golf team all four years.
Golf is known to be played at a slow, enjoyable pace with beautiful sceneries to overlook while on the course. It’s a classy sport and you have to be flexible enough to swing the club and strong enough to hit the ball far. It’s a pretty mentally challenging sport and it’s a nice sport to play even when you get older. Golf can relieve stress and there is a lot of fresh air out on the course. There’s a lot of walking incorporated into the game of golf to get to each hole.
Emily has had a long journey with golf. A surprising fact is that she has been playing golf for 9 years. Her dad inspired her to start golf.
She states that started playing, “because the sport seemed really interesting and because my dad liked to play it.”
Emily plays golf mostly during the season every day. She practices every other week if the season is not going on. Emily devotes a lot of time to her sport and she is compassionate about it too. Her practice has clearly paid off regarding the fact that she shot a 36 (par on every hole) on September 21 while playing 9 holes at Poppy Ridge against California High School.
Emily is a great, consistent golfer. Being a student and an athlete at the same time is very challenging as her schedule is usually packed. Emily doesn’t follow professional golf, so she doesn’t have a favorite player.
Games occur very often for Granada’s golf team. Games and practicing can take up a lot of free time for her since she has about 2 games every week and practices 4 days a week right after school at Granada’s home course, Poppy Ridge Golf Course. Some of her matches are away and some are at their usual course. When the season isn’t current, she still practices every other week so that she doesn’t lose any skills.
Emily enjoys practicing and playing golf with her teammates because they are motivational and supportive. This sport is all about patience and accuracy. So once you hit the ball you have to be happy with the shot. An important thing to have while you play is a positive mindset. In a match or while practicing, it’s been proven that most players only focus on the bad shots instead of the good ones which leads to their performance. A bad mentality can cause frustration and it takes away your focus from the game. It is also important to take your time while playing and to focus on the shot you’re about to take.
During her time out on the course and practicing she enjoys using her hybrid the most. The hybrid is a cross between the fairway driver and an iron. The hybrid applies a more natural sweeping swing.
Emily said, “I think my greatest strength in golf is that I usually don’t mess up badly, so my scores are fairly consistent.”
Emily is a good sport to other players and she has a lot of experience with golf.
She said, “ I don’t plan on playing golf in college but I will still play it as a hobby in the future.”
Shi’s relationship with golf has come a long way. Her coaches are phenomenal and her teammates give her more confidence. She and her team are having an extraordinary season this fall! We can’t wait to see more.
