The Vero Beach High varsity girls golf team finished a distant fourth in the regional tournament last week at Pointe West Country Club and failed to advance to the state championships despite strong performances from its top two golfers.
The result was not entirely unexpected for a young and largely inexperienced supporting cast that followed juniors Mary Kate Hiller and Sarah Noonan.
The Fighting Indians finished second to Viera in the district playoff round a week earlier when Noonan shot a one-under 71 and Hiller carded 75. Noonan was the tournament medalist and Hiller was fourth best overall as they led the team to the regionals.
Viera doubled down and came away with the regional team championship as well. Hiller provided the only good news for Vero with her sixth place individual finish that was good enough to qualify for states.
Head Coach Joe Kern, the head golf professional at the Indian River Club, took over this year as the coach of the Vero Beach High School girls golf team on a trial basis.
“A member of my club had two daughters on the Vero team, and knowing that the coach from last year was leaving, I was asked if I had an interest,” Kern explained. “Knowing that this is sort of our off-season, I said I would give it a try this year. I had to see how the relationship worked and how it would affect my job at the IRC. So far it’s been an okay thing.”
Kern has a sense of purpose about teaching golf.
“I teach for a living, so coaching golf is what I’ve done my whole life,” Kern added. “We have to grow the game and that starts with juniors. Young women are a market that golf needs. To assist in expanding that market and keeping the eight girls on my team interested in golf will help every golf course in the future.”
This year’s Vero team was a reflection of the conditions Kern cited. Hiller and Noonan are committed to the sport in a big way. The others are in the learning stage and appear to be engaged more casually.
“I live on the golf course and I am out here every day,” said Hiller, a member at Pointe West. “After I get out of school I will practice, go home to eat dinner, and then come back out and practice some more. I will put the lights on the golf cart and practice my short game. Actually I practice everything.”
Hiller started at an early age by hitting the links with her grandparents at the Vero Beach Country Club. In middle school she was involved with the Indian River Golf Foundation. At that point she started practicing more often and developed a passion for golf.
“Golf is a game where you have to have a passion for it,” she told us. “It’s not something that you can just do during the season and expect to get good at it. It’s just not one of those things. You have to play year-round and hit thousands and thousands of balls to get good at this game. It’s not given to you; you have to work for it.”
This year she has worked her way all the way to the state tournament. Noonan also started at an early age under circumstances that have introduced many youngsters to the sport.
“I started golfing with the Vero Beach Recreation Department when I was 7,” Noonan said. “We used plastic clubs and tennis balls. I did that for four years.”
Noonan started doing the real thing with a friend and stuck with it when her friend dropped out. At age 12 she started participating in tournaments.
“When I was on my own I said to myself that I wanted to get good at this. I put in a lot of time and went through a period where I was really struggling and almost quit. But I kept going and I’ve come a long way in the last year-and-a- half.”
Noonan is a big hitter and says, “I definitely hit the ball farther than some of the girls out there. On my drives I really go after it.”
Hiller is currently going through a swing change but is proud of her short game. “That’s my strongest aspect,” she said. “I don’t like going out to the range and hitting long. That’s not my thing, but sometimes you have to do it. My favorite thing is chipping and putting.”
Hiller and Noonan aspire to play Division One college golf and that would seem to be within reach, although both said nothing serious is in the works just yet. They both have one more year to showcase their talents with the VBHS varsity and in off-season tournaments.
“They are almost twins when it comes to ball striking and the way they play the game,” Kern said. “Their scoring averages during the regular season were less than half a stroke apart (37.8 for Hiller, 38.2 for Noonan). They both excel when it comes to implementing a strategy, especially at the level they are both trying to play at.
“They are good friends, hard workers, and love to play the game.
Kern expects to have at least six of the eight girls back next year. “I’m hoping they all work hard on their golf games throughout the off-season,” he said, “and if they do, we could have a very good year.”
