MIDDLETOWN – It was at the request of one of her swimmers that Denise Skinner decided to construct a girls golf team at Middletown South.
“I actually coach the girls swim team and I was talking with one of my swimmers, Erin Bouton, who is a senior. She told me she played golf and was able to play on the boys team last year and was surprised that we didn’t have a girls team and wanted to start one,” Skinner said. “She really took the initiative to speak with our athletic director and principal, and I told her if she needed a coach, I was here for her and it ended up working out.
“She talked to all the girls in the school and knew some girls that would be interested. We have 17 girls on the team. If it wasn’t for Erin, this probably would never had happened.”
The inaugural Middletown South girls golf roster consists of Bouton, Julia Malek, Katie Garwood, Shannon McGuire, Chrissy Merges, Eve Pirie, Ella Gammino, Molly Applegate, Liz Kane, Abby Nolan, Franny Stix, Elena Thompson, Caitlin Antonio, Ronnie DeMaria, Grace Greco, and Alyssa Todaro.
“For a new team, we have some pretty solid girls from what I have seen,” Skinner said. “We have only had one match so far but just at practice, these girls took the initiative to go take private lessons on their own before the season really started. I am really looking forward to our futures matches because I will be able to rotate all of them and allow them all to play.”
The Eagles tied the Cougars of Colts Neck at 137 a piece in the program’s first-ever match on Apr. 10.
With only so many schools in the area having girls golf teams, Middletown South sees some schools on its schedule multiple times. They play Colts Neck, Ranney and Trinity Hall twice each, and their only other team matches are against Rumson-Fair Haven and Wall.
“Our team was kind of put into place last minute,” Skinner said. “With bussing situations and stuff like that, we weren’t able to get as many matches as we would have liked. We got the ball rolling just a few weeks before the preseason started, so I think now that we’re established as a team, going forward when the athletic directors meet to do the schedules, maybe we will be able to expand and play some Ocean County schools, because there are some schools down there that have girls golf teams as well.”
The team plays its home matches at Beacon Hill Country Club in the Atlantic Highlands, but they are not playing any matches there this year due to the boys team playing there on mostly the same schedule. The girls played their first match of the season at Colts Neck, and that seems to be where most of their other matches this season will take place.
In addition to Bouton, Skinner noted freshman Garwood and sophomore Malek, who played with Bouton on the boys team last year, as player who has stood out so far.
Skinner said she only plays golf with her husband and has never coached before, so this is a new experience to her as well.
“I like a challenge and a new learning experience, so I am having fun with them,” Skinner said. “I have a lot to learn and I do have to say the girls have taught me a lot along the way, too.”
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