The Escalon Lady Cougars golf girls have a new head coach this season and are getting ready for their league schedule, after starting out with a couple of tournaments.

Head coach Chris Casazza, a fifth-grade teacher at Dent Elementary, is in his first year with the varsity golf team.

“We have 12 girls and you use six,” Casazza said of matches, noting that the top four are solidly in place, with others still battling for the remaining spots.

“We have three juniors, Genevieve Casazza, Rose Percey and Cortney Ball, and sophomore Elizabeth Allan,” the coach said of his top four. “Then, Taylor Bruns and Isabelle Titsworth, both sophomores, have been our number five and six players so far.”

However, he said he hopes to get everyone a chance to play so the five and six slots will see more of a rotation this year than in the past.

The team recently went to the Yellowjacket Invitational at Turlock Country Club on Aug. 21.

“We got seventh out of 17 teams and Genevieve was our leader, she was 17th out of 90 girls at the tournament,” Casazza said.

They also ended up with an unexpected league match, as Hilmar wanted to move up an original date. They traveled to Hilmar and lost by a 227-239 final on Aug. 24.

Earlier action, non-league play, saw the girls win at home against Sonora on Aug. 15 and then take a loss at Sonora on Aug. 17.

They were scheduled to face off in the preseason finale against Ripon at Jack Tone on Aug. 29 and then will play league rival Riverbank with a 4 p.m. start at the Escalon Golf Course on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

Casazza said it has been a learning experience for everyone so far, as they grow together as a team.

He pointed to strong efforts despite some very hot conditions, a tornado warning at the Yellowjacket Invite and some unexpected raindrops.

“I’m proud of the girls, they played hard,” he said.