At the Bing Maloney Golf Course in Sacramento, a trio of Escalon varsity Lady Cougar golfers put their final scores in the books for the season.

Elizabeth Allan, along with Samantha Bruns and Taylor Bruns, qualified for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 5 Tournament, which was hosted at the course adjacent to the Sacramento Executive Airport. The tourney was hosted on Oct. 28.

“The course was well maintained and was set up very similarly to other courses of its era. Mostly flat, with fairly straight fairways,” said Escalon head coach Chris Casazza. “It had a lot of mature trees along the fairways, which punished golfers who weren’t able to keep their ball in the fairways. It had some deep approach bunkers, many of which swallowed up balls and raised scores because of the difficulty of getting the ball up and out.”

The coach added that the tournament had an early start on Oct. 28, with a shotgun tee time at 8 a.m., making for a very early departure time for the Escalon players, taking off at about 5 a.m.

“In order to qualify as an individual, our girls had to be ranked in the top six of the Trans-Valley League, after taking out all of the golfers who qualified with their entire team – Hilmar, Ripon, Hughson,” explained Casazza.

The trio of Lady Cougars were in that top individual six, so all three moved on to the D5 tourney.

“I was so proud of them for qualifying,” Casazza said. “All three have been on the team since I took over the program. It was such an honor watching them improve year after year as they gained experience and improved their skills.”

Thirteen teams qualified for the tournament from the various leagues that feed into Division 5, and 18 individuals were also able to qualify. Casazza noted that Hilmar, 478; Hughson, 491; and Ripon, 512, were the top three finishers in the D5 tournament.

“This really speaks to the level of competition that Escalon was facing in league play,” he said. “What an accomplishment it was for our EHS team to hang tough and compete against such quality opponents,” Casazza said. “I’m so proud that during league play the girls were able to keep the matches close, and in one case, beat Hughson.”

For Escalon, Elizabeth Allan shot a 100 and tied for 17th overall; Samantha Bruns shot a 106 and took 34th; Taylor Bruns carded a 123 and tied for 71st overall. Though none qualified to move on to the NorCal Masters, Casazza said they still have plenty to be proud of this season.

“It was a huge honor for them to compete at the division level as individuals,” the coach pointed out. “It was an experience I hope they won’t forget anytime soon. They played with class and integrity, and represented Escalon well. I’m proud of them.”