Pali High Golf Team Preparing to Tee Off

Since being hired to re-start the Palisades High girls golf program back in January, perhaps the biggest uncertainty facing Coach James Paleno was how many people would try out for the team.

He might as well scratch that concern off the list, as more than 25 students showed up, thereby presenting Paleno with a problem he had not anticipated.

“One reason we didn’t have a team for four years is that we couldn’t get enough kids to come out, so I didn’t think I’d have nearly as many as I did,” Paleno said. “My intention was to keep everyone who tried out, but they kept coming and coming. I don’t like having to cut anyone, but we don’t have a place to play on campus and we don’t have buses, so we can only keep 14 or 15 girls.”

Narrowing down the roster is only one difficult task for Paleno, who also must reserve courses and driving ranges to practice on, organize transportation to and from school and obtain golf bags, shoes and equipment, as most of his players don’t have their own set of clubs.

“I had them hitting foam balls off mats on the tennis courts and we set up some hula hoops on the baseball field – we did what we could,” said Paleno, whose hope is to one day have a putting green on campus. “So far, it’s mostly been teaching the girls etiquette, how to grip the club and where to stand when someone is hitting.”

Building a team from scratch is nothing new for Paleno, who re-started the boys program in 1998 and has since led the Dolphins to seven City Section titles.

“We have a really enthusiastic group,” said Paleno, whose team will play in the City 3 League  with Venice and LACES. “I’ve already started doing video analysis of their swings like I do with the boys and I plan on getting them out for one round this week. We’ll play at the VA or Rancho and get over to the range”

The team includes seniors Miya Eberlein and Heidi Kang, along with junior Izzy Simmons, whose brother Grant graduated in the spring after helping the boys defend their  City championship. Other contributors will be Sophia Eberlein and Paleno’s niece, Camilla, a 10th-grader.

The Dolphins open the season next Thursday at 2 p.m. at Penmar  Golf Course. All league matches will be nine holes.