The 2015 and 2017 season for SHS girls golf had something in common: only five golfers were on the team. 2016 consisted of only four. This was just barely enough players to form a team, according to senior Elizabeth Lamkin. The amount of names on the roster has nearly doubled since 2017.

“We’ll have solid numbers at least for the next four, five years,” girls golf coach Donald Manning said.

The team now consists of nine girls. This growth in the program has been beneficial in creating competition among the players, according to Manning and Lamkin.

“(The freshmen on the team) make us as seniors and some of the other upperclassmen work harder,” said Lamkin.

While the program shows growth in size, it also shows signs of an increase in skill over the next few years, according to Manning.

“The (freshmen) coming in are better golfers than typically what we’ve had coming in as freshmen,” Manning said.

Riley Little and Annika Chan are freshmen on the team that agree the team will be able to continue to grow in skill and the amount of girls on the team will remain higher than in previous years.

“I think the future holds a lot of potential for girls golf,” Annika said.