While high school girls golf may be changing and growing in the state, one thing remains the same: South Brunswick should be pretty good.
"It's hard to tell from one year to the next, but we should be okay," South Brunswick Coach Joe Dougherty said. "We should be pretty good."
South Brunswick is coming off a year in which it was 7-4. Two years ago, South Brunswick was the second best team in the state. Hunterdon Central has won the state title each of the past two years.
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Girls golf has grown enough in the state that sectional tournaments were held for the first time last year. Prior to that, teams qualified straight to the state championship match.
South Brunswick was the Greater Middlesex Conference champions last year. South Brunswick has won the GMC in all three years of its existence.
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South Brunswick has the talent to go for four in a row.
Maggie Boyle (senior), Katerine Chell (junior), Talia Togno (junior) and Roshi Patel (senior) lead the group of returning golfers for South Brunswick.
"They are playing pretty well right now," Dougherty noted.
Other returnees are Victoria Lam (sophomore), Krista Lucas (junior), Naina Kamath (sophomore) and Lauren Scannelli (senior). According to Dougherty, they all have shown signs of starting to round their games into shape.
Megan Moran, Samantha Bishop, Julia Bae and Sydney Sookerman are freshman that also made the team.
"Julia is a golfer," Dougherty said. "A lot of the other girls are new to the sport. It's obvious that Julia has played a lot."
South Brunswick plays in a format where six golfers play, with the top four scores counting. With several talented girls on his team, that creates some tough decisions for Dougherty.
South Brunswick is currently practicing most days at Bunker Hill. The team will also be there for the season opener on Apr. 1 against Robbinsville.
"They are very good to us at Bunker Hill," Dougherty said.
Robbinsville, South Brunswick, Old Bridge, West Windsor North, West Windsor South and Notre Dame are all part of the Central Jersey Golf League.
"Winning that division will be one of our goals," Dougherty said. "We won the division before."
There will also be a division tournament, but that date has yet to be finalized. The same is true of the GMC. The sectionals will be May 16 at a site to be determined. The state tournament, the ultimate goal, will be held at Bamm Hollow on May 25.
