As fall sports wrap up at Carlsbad High School, so has one of the biggest golf competitions in greater San Diego County. CHS Sophomore Sabrina Sun placed 3rd at the CIF golf championships with a performance both her and her team is proud of.
Sun feels that not anyone can just show up and perform well, she knows that the only way to reach the top is to practice consistently and truly want to win. This has become the center of her golf training and she feels that it has paid off.
“Preparing for CIF starts very early for me, just like experiencing and playing lots of tournaments and really trying my best when playing playoffs and my other tournaments,” Sun said. “A really important thing for me is experiencing the stress of playing golf at a high level, and applying what I learned from that to tournaments like CIF.”
Sabrina credits her success not just to her work ethic but also to the people that are with her every step of the way. She feels that her coaches and teammates are a major part of why she is succeeding and that without them, finding her success would have been much more difficult.
“The coaches are really encouraging and they really support you like every step of the way,” Sun said. “They helped me grow better mentally and helped me push through when things got hard. My teammates also support me through every tournament, like even if I had a bad round, they are there and we all have fun together and practice together to get better.”
Sophomore Keandra Weis is one of Sabrina’s teammates and appreciates Sabrina for her contributions to the team. Weis also golfed at the CIF championships and was able to witness firsthand how Sabrina acts at a high stakes competition.
“She was just really focused on her game and that kind of had an impact on me,” Weis said. “Since Sabrina was the only other teammate competing at CIF with me, the way she played really motivated me to try to do my best.”
Sabrina also notes that all the hard work does eventually pay off. She says that she notices moments throughout playing a round of golf that she has specifically trained for. Sabrina feels that training for these specific scenarios is key to being successful.
“A really cool moment from this season was when I was leading the first round at CIF,” Sun Said. “I practiced very hard for that and finally seeing the results come through was a very rewarding feeling.”
Weis goes on to mention how Sabrina’s presence on the team affects their performance as a whole. She feels that Sabrina’s role as part of the team is very important and contributes to the rest of the team’s success.
“Whenever we’re at practice or competing, Sabrina is always there playing her best game which really has a big effect on the rest of us,” Weis said. “She is probably the most skilled player on the team so even being around her when practicing or competing is a big help with nerves but also improving our golf game.”
Sabrina’s success is a result of her skill but also her mentality when it comes to being on the course. She understands that golf is a very mental game and without focus, being a good golfer is way more difficult.
“A really important lesson that I’ve learned from this season is not to care about the end result but just to play one shot at the time and when you’re out there to have fun and look ahead,” Sun said.
