Crystal Springs Golf Course: Beautiful, but tough

“There is never a flat lie on this course,” said San Mateo head coach Jimmy Ikeda. “It’s a challenging course with a lot of penalizing areas.”

The first hole, for instance, features a wide-open fairway — that slopes precipitously from left to right. The fifth hole is played at an extreme uphill, while the sixth hole plays down the same hill.

Course knowledge is definitely an advantage and, of the nine players who teed it up, only San Mateo’s Lindsey Huang had any experience on the course, saying she plays it about once a month.

“This course is super hilly. You have to know where to hit it,” Huang said.

That was evident on the uphill par-4 fifth hole as her drive was well left. But it landed on a sidehill and kicked right perfectly to the middle of the fairway.

With the knowledge — and the game — it was no surprise Huang played well as she finished as low medalist for the fourth straight match for the Bearcats, finishing with a 3-over 39. Aragon senior Alyssa Angara and freshman Grace Tao, who played in the first group with Huang, carded 57 and 58, respectively.

For Angara, it was her first time playing Crystal Springs.

“It’s definitely a beautiful course,” Angara said diplomatically.

Zoe Pang shot a 57 for San Mateo to give the Bearcats a second player who shot under 60.

A seasoned tournament player on the juniors circuit, Huang expects to play well, so while nearly anyone would be pleased to shoot 3-over on the front nine at Crystal Springs, Huang had mixed feelings.

“I really have high expectations for myself,” Huang said. “But my dad, who has been my biggest supporter, told me not to pressure myself (during high school matches).

“The high school matches, for me, are like practice.”

Huang was a bit frustrated because she knew she could have shot lower. She was putting for birdie on the par-4 first, the par-4 second, the par-5 fourth and the par-5 seventh holes, settling for 2-putt pars each time.

She scrambled for pars on the par-3 third and the par-4 fifth. Her drive on the par 3 was short of the green, but she pitched her second shot to a foot for a tap-in par. On the fifth hole, she flew the green with a fairway wood, landing it on the top of a mound behind the green.

Again, she used a decent chip to 20 feet before knocking down the putt for a 4 to stay even on the round.

Huang started to falter down the stretch, however, coming away with bogeys on three of the final four holes.

“Toward the end, I started to lose my momentum,” Huang said. “I saw early on that I was leaving putts short. … My putting wasn’t great. … I’ve been through a lot of coaches … and a lot of them told me putting is the most important (part of the game).”

Despite their elevated scores, Angara and Tao did not play poorly. They just had a hard time playing their shots consistently. Playing with Huang, who was shooting darts all day, can certainly add to the pressure to play well, but Angara said she just tries to stay within herself.

“I just have to focus on what I’m doing,” Angara said.

Oling said his top two players both have the shots in their repertoire, it’s just a matter of gaining on-course experience.

“They’re both capable of shooting in the 40s,” Oling said. “They’re solid players.”